One of my favorite things to eat is Asian Chicken salad. I love the stuff. I like this version of it with noodles, also. It’s really good, either way. This is one salad, that you can be very creative with. Just go crazy……I make it a bit different each time. You don’t have to add chicken. Just go veggie…..or add salmon, or some left over steak. Sometimes, I even throw in some rice. YUM. But, this is my favorite way to make it. It’s the dressing that makes this so darned good. Oh….and about my dressing….it makes a great marinade.

This noodle salad is a light refreshing salad…..and it will be a new favorite to you and your family. I hope!

Asian Noodle Salad

1/2 head of a medium size Napa Cabbage (or also known as Chinese cabbage)
2 pickling cucumbers
1 package slaw mix (that contains carrots, purple cabbage and cabbage)
2 green onions, sliced
1 bunch of romaine lettuce
4 stalks (or more) of raw asparagus, peeled and minced
cooked angel hair pasta or spaghetti noodles
cooked and shredded chicken or salmon (optional) This is just as good as a veggie only salad. Trust me…seriously.

Toss everything together, add as much dressing as you like. The recipe below may be too much or too little dressing, but trust me, you should make plenty of dressing to have on hand.

Asian Dressing

1/2 cup orange juice
juice of 2 lemons or limes
2 tablespoons of FRESH grated ginger (NOT THE GINGER POWDER USED FOR BAKING)
2 cloves of minced garlic
3/4  cup of vegetable oil
2 tablespoons of peanut butter (optional) but delicious
2 tablespoons of soy sauce
1 tsp of Asian chili paste or wasabi (if you like spicy) I do!!!
2 tblsp honey (optional)

Put everything in a food processor or blender.. add salt to taste. ready to go. It’s better the second day.

This is a very quick, simple French bread recipe. I found it on YouTube, but I changed a couple of things.  It’s delicious. Everyone who I give this too, asks for their own loaf. A lot of folks are so intimidated by working with yeast. They get that scared look on their face, like YIKES. But really, do not be a-scared. Seriously, what is the worst that could happen? You dump it and start over? Its just flour and water and some yeast. I’m telling ya, once you make this and see how easy and yummy it is, you will make it again and again. It’s delicious toasted, with butter…….or slathered in garlic butter and broiled…..or pizza bread…..or sandwiches. You’re gonna love it!!

French Bread

makes 1 loaf

1  1/4 c warm water (not hot)
1  1/2 tsp. rapid rise yeast
2  tblsp. sugar
1  1/4 tsp. salt
about 3 cups of flour

In a bowl of a stand mixer, with the paddle attachment, add warm water, yeast and sugar together. Yeast should be almost dissolved. Add the salt and 2 cups of the flour. If your dough is too sticky, add a bit more flour. Mix until the dough  forms a ball. (you may not have to use all the flour). Remove the ball off the paddle and place dough ball in a large bowl. Cover with a clean dish towel or plastic wrap. Let it sit and double in size. About an hour.

Place the dough onto a floured cutting board and roll out into a large rectangle…about 11″ x 15″. On the long edge, roll the dough up like if you were making cinnamon rolls. Gently lift it onto a baking sheet. I used a french bread pan, but a flat baking sheet works. Cover with dish towel again for about 30 minutes or so, until it rises to your preference. Bake in preheated oven….350 deg. for about 20 minutes or light brown. Ohhhhhhh, it’s gonna smell so good in your house. Get the butter ready. And maybe some jam…or honey…or olive oil. You better make 2 loaves!

This is a very easy, flaky cinnamony (is that a word?) sticky bun. It’s kinda like a cinnamon roll, but it’s flaky and made with frozen puff pastry that you can buy at any grocery store. Experiment and make them your way. There is so much you can do….but I wanted something light and not too heavy and overly sweet. These were perfect. My favorite Food Network Chef, Ina Garten, made these awhile back and I did try her recipe but whooaa…dripping with butter and way too sweet. But I still love you Ina….and think you are fabulous, but  I will stick with  my recipe.

Simple Flaky Sticky Buns

1 sheet of puff pastry, thawed and flattened out (it comes frozen, rolled, 2 to a box)
1/2 stick of butter, melted
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
zest of 1 orange (optional)

Preheat oven to 400 deg. Very lightly butter a muffin pan (only 6 of the muffin cups). Flour a wood cutting board and unfold your puff pastry sheet carefully. Brush the surface of the dough with melted butter. Mix the brown sugar and cinnamon together and sprinkle all over the surface of the dough. Sprinkle on the orange zest. Roll up the dough (the long side) snuggly. Make sure the seam side is down. Carefully slice the dough into 6 equal pieces. Don’t smoosh it! Place each piece into a muffin cup.  Bake until they are golden brown, usually about 25 minutes, depending on your oven. Remove from oven and wait a few minutes, but not too long.  Be very careful, as hot sugar will BURN you badly. Trust me, I know! Turn your muffin over onto a plate. Be sure to scoop out any goo from the pan, onto your buns. Allow to cool. HEAVEN.

I think I have told you all before how much I love pasta. I never get tired of it. There are those long cooking sauces and then there are the quick and easy sauces. This one is one of the easy ones. Easy, but so good. So rich. So decadent. The star of this show is the bacon…..applewood smoked bacon. The smokiness of the bacon is key to this dish. Don’t use a regular bacon. Not much more I can say about this sauce, other than you must make this. Bacon is so popular right now……and if you are a bacon lover, you just gotta make this I tell ya. Good stuff.

Bacon Tomato Pasta Sauce

1/2 lb ground beef
2 slices of applewood or hickory smoked bacon, diced
3 cloves of fresh garlic, minced
1 tsp fresh oregano leaves, minced ) or 1/2 tsp dried
salt and pepper to taste
1 medium size (14 oz) can of whole or diced tomatoes
2 tablespoons of butter
1 tsp crushed red pepper flakes

In a large skillet, brown the ground beef and the bacon on a medium heat. Add garlic and oregano. Give it a couple of stirs and add the tomatoes. Simmer for about 15 minutes. Add the red pepper flakes and butter. Toss with your favorite cooked pasta. Incredible.

Awhile back, I posted a brownie recipe that was pretty darned good. As I said back then, I have experimented with so many brownie recipes over the years. Not one has come close to my lost recipe of long ago. I absolutely LOVE brownies….a real favorite treat of mine. I was experimenting again and came up with this one. I like it a bit better than the Ooey Gooey Brownie I posted, but my search still continues. This one is thick, chewy, good fudgy factor, but not overly mushy fudgy. I don’t like those overly gushy brownies. Going to try this one again, but make some adjustments…..stay tuned.

Betty’s Brownies

8 oz. bittersweet chocolate, chopped
1 stick butter
1 cup sugar
3 large eggs
1 cup all purpose flour
1/4 tsp  baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoon cocoa powder
1/4 cup walnuts or almonds

Heat oven to 350 deg. Fit a piece of parchment paper or foil into an 8×8 square baking dish so that on 2 sides of the dish, the paper or foil stick out (for easy lifting of brownies out of pan). Spray the foil/paper with cooking spray. Melt the chopped chocolate and butter in the microwave. Be careful not to scorch the chocolate. Allow the mixture to come to room temp. In a large mixing bowl, mix the eggs and sugar to a thick, pale yellow…..at least 2 minutes. Add the chocolate/butter and mix thoroughly. Add the dry ingredients. Fold in the nuts. Pour into prepared pan. Bake for 40 minutes.

Note: I rotate the baking dish, half way through (20 minutes). Check for doneness with tooth pick. It should have a few crumbs on the toothpick. Cool completely, about 1 1/2 hours. Grab the paper and lift carefully out of the pan. Cut. Bite. Say YUM.