Avacado, Citrus, and Salmon Lettuce Cups

This is from my costco cookbook and it sounded so light and summery so I tried it for dinner tonight and we all loved it! Even the kids. I think I ate four:)

Salad
-1 large ripe fresh hass avacado halved, pitted, and cut into cubes
-1 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
-6 tangerines or 2-3 oranges separated into segments and cut in quarters (cut like mom cuts oranges and grapefruit at Christmas)
-2 green onions thinly sliced
-1/2 pound cooked salmon
-1/3 cup jicama shredded (optional)
12 small iceburg lettuce leaves trimmed (I used romaine, but iceburg would definitely be easier to eat)

Sauce
-1/2 cup seasoned rice vinegar
-6 Tbsp soy sauce
-1/4 cup fresh cilantro chopped
-4 tsp fresh grated ginger
-2 tsp toasted sesame oil
-1 tsp rep pepper flakes (I did not use these because of my kids)

1. The recipe calls for cooked salmon, but I bought fresh salmon and just brushed it with olive oil, a little bit of soy sauce, and some seasoned rice vinegar and it was delicious. I cooked it at 350 for about 20 minutes until it flaked, then took it out and let it cool for about 5 minutes.
2. To make sauce, combine all ingredients and mix well. Set aside. (I halved the sauce recipe because it seemed like a ton for just my family and we still had some leftover).
3. Place avocado in a large bowl and toss with lemon juice. Add oranges and squeeze juice from leftover orange membrane into same bowl. Add green onions, and jicama if using and toss to coat.
4. Fill lettuce cups with salad mixture and sprinkle chunks of salmon on top. Top all with sauce, roll and serve lettuce wrap style.

pecan crusted chicken salad

This was an instant favorite among my family! I found this recipe and absolutely love it. The chicken is a little bit time consuming but you can do some of the steps ahead. It looks a bit complicated, but it really isn't. The salad ingredients can be changed to whatever you want in your salad. It is a great summer dinner!

Dipping mixture
-2 egg whites
-2 tsp cornstarch
-juice of 1/2 lemon
Whisk all together in shallow bowl, set aside

Crusting mixture
-1 cup course dry bread crumbs (I just left two heals of whole wheat sandwich bread on my counter in the morning and then pulsed them in the food processor that evening when I was ready to make this and they were so yummy! Or you can use store bought bread crumbs but they sometimes have a lot of junk in them)
-1 Tbsp Chopped fresh parsley (you can use 1 tsp dried if you don't have fresh)
-1 tsp salt
-1/4 tsp pepper
-zest of one lemon
-3/4 cup findely copped pecans
-1/2 t dried oregano
-1/2 tsp dried thyme
-1/2 tsp paprika
-1/4 tsp cayenne
Mix all and lay out flat in shallow dish or on plate, set aside

1. Get dipping station and crusting station all ready then halve and pound out two defrosted chicken breasts. 2. Dip each piece of chicken in coating mixture and then transfer to crusting mixture and pat mixture into chicken until thoroughly coated on both sides. 3. Repeat until all chicken is crusted. 4. Heat 3 Tbsp of olive oil in a large skillet on the stove over medium-high heat. 5. Place crusted chicken in sautee pan for about 3 minutes each side, or until golden brown and crisp. 6. Transfer skillet to a 450 degree oven to finish cooking, about 8 minutes longer (if you don't have an oven proof skillet, just transfer carefully to an ovenproof dish).

Meanwhile toss in large bowl
-8 cups of any kind of greens or lettuce
-4 oz goat cheese ( I used feta because I had it)
-1/2 cup red onion sliced thinly
-1 avacado chopped
-2 tomatoes chopped
- finely chopped or shredded carrots to taste

Honey Mustard Dressing
-1/4 cup honey
-3 Tbsp dijon mustard
-3 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
-1 Tbsp minced shallot or onion
-1 Tbsp apple cider vinegar
-juice of half a lemon
-salt and pepper to taste
Whisk all together and set aside

When chicken is done, let it rest for a couple minutes. Pour dressing over salad and toss. Dish up salad mixture on individual plates and top each salad with sliced chicken. Sprinkle toasted crumbs from chicken pan over salad and serve immediately.

The World's Most Delicious Trifle

1 large clear glass bowl
Ingredients
2 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese
2 cups confectioners' sugar
8 ounces sour cream
1/4 teaspoon almond flavoring
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 pint whipping cream
1 angel food cake (store bought is fine)
1 quart strawberry
1 quart blueberries
3/4 cup sugar
3 tablespoons almond flavoring
Directions
1 Cream together cream cheese and confectioners sugar.
2 Add sour cream, vanilla and 1/4 tsp almond flavoring.
3 Set this mixture aside.
4 In separate bowl whip the whipping cream and add to cream cheese mixture.
5 Tear up angel food cake and mix in with cheese mixture.
6 In separate bowl (s) place strawberries and blueberries 3/4 cup sugar and 3 Tbsp almond flavoring.
7 (You can mix the berries together or keep separate, for a pretty red, white and blue look,if separate divide sugar and almond flavoring between the two bowls).
8 In a clear glass bowl alternate layers of the cream cheese mixtures and the berries.
9 Garnish the top with berries.
10 Refrigerate for a couple of hours.
11 This looks absolutely beautiful and tastes just as great!

Oh my delicious. I took this to our 4th of July barbeque and it changed everyone's life. Seriously.

Crab Salad

I am recording this because Dad insisted. We are up at the cabin and he brought up some Costco crab so I threw this together and it was delicious so we want to remember exactly how it was made. It is a keeper, add some toast or bread and dinner is made in 10 minutes!

1/2 of the canned lump crab from costco( we did this over the next day with the other half because we loved it so much!)
2 small or 1 large avocado cut in small pieces
chopped romaine lettuce pretty fine
2 small chopped tomatoes
1/4th cup pinenuts
3/4 large carrot grated
Dressing
1/4 c lowfat mayonnaise
1/4 c ketchup
1/4 c italian bottled dressing, any brand you have
juice from 1 lemon
salt and pepper
Chop up the salad stuff and put in a bowl. In a smaller bowl mix together the mayonnaise, ketchup italian dressing, and juice from the lemon, whisk together and pour over the salad. Toss, sprinkle with salt and pepper and done! Delicious and it took about 5 minutes to make for dinner.