carrot and pear curry salad

1 and 1/2 pound carrots
2 pears
2 Tablespoons chopped parsley
2 Tablespoons white wine vinegar
1 Tablespoon curry powder
2 teaspoons honey
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 cup olive oil

take a peeler and peel the carrots lengthwise so you end up with very thin carrot strips. slice the pear into very thin strips (the same as the carrots). you can use the skin of the pears if you want, or you can get rid of it. but the carrot and pear slices into a large bowl with the parsley.

in a blender, combine the white wine, curry, honey, salt and black pepper. slowly add the olive oil until it is all incorporated. you could probably just use a bowl and a whisk. a blender isn't necessary. pour the dressing on the carrots, pears, and parsley and serve right away.

mmmm!

Some unusual fruit salads

Easy but weird - - - - - - - -

Pink fruit salad

2 small cans of mandarin oranges, drained
1 16-oz. can crushed pineapple, drained
1 small jar maraschino cherries, drained and chopped
1 cup chopped pecans
1 cup shredded coconut (optional)
3 cups miniature marshmallows
1 container of Cool Whip
1/3 cup of mayonnaise
1 large package cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup confectioner's sugar
Combine Cool Whip, mayonnaise, cream cheese, and sugar in a large bowl. Beat until thoroughly blended. Stir in other ingredients. Chill at least two hours before serving. Serve on a bed of lettuce with tea biscuits (or some other salty cookie). Or pack in tupperware for a summer picnic.


Delicious but complicated - - - - - -

Asian Pear and Avocado Salad with Garam Masala Syrup

For garam masala syrup
2 cups water
1/2 cup sugar
1 (2-inch-long) piece cinnamon stick
2 (1- by 1/4-inch) pieces fresh ginger, smashed
2 teaspoons green or white cardamom pods, crushed
2 teaspoons coriander seeds, crushed
10 whole black peppercorns, crushed
1/4 teaspoon dried hot red pepper flakes

For salad

2 large avocados
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
2 Asian pears (or another kind of firm pear, not the gushy kind)

Make syrup:
Bring all syrup ingredients to a boil in a 1-quart heavy saucepan, stirring until sugar is dissolved. Reduce heat and simmer until syrup is reduced to about 1/2 cup, about 15 minutes. Remove from heat and let steep, covered, 1 hour. Pour syrup through a sieve into a bowl, throw out the solids.

Prepare salad:
Thinly slice the avocado lengthwise. Toss slices with 2 tablespoons lemon juice and salt and pepper to taste. Toss it with half of the syrup.

Core the pear and then thinly slice lengthwise. Toss pear slices with remaining 2 tablespoons lemon juice and salt and pepper to taste. Toss it with the rest of the syrup

Drain pears and avocados, saving the syrup, and arrange the slices on plates. You can use the syrup as a dressing for a lettuce/spinach salad on the side.

Call for interesting fruit salad combinations.

In my opinion, fruit salad is one of the best things about summer. I'm going to depart from the traditional cream-of-what requirements here and ask for "recipes" not containing whip cream or any sort of Jello. Just straight fruit, yo. What I'm seeking are especially interesting or unconventional combinations. What've you got? I just thought of this so I don't have my recipes with me, but I'll post them soon. I think I have one involving grapefruit and kiwi and something else. Fruit+veggie salad ideas are welcome too.

Imitation Red Lobster "Cheddar Bay" Biscuits

These biscuits are so simple, and they taste almost exactly like the ones at Red Lobster.


Ingredients:
2 c. Bisquick mix
3/4 c. milk
1/2 c. shredded cheddar
1/8 c. unsalted butter
garlic powder
onion powder
garlic salt

Preheat oven to 375. Combine Bisquick, milk, and cheddar in a mixing bowl. Do not overmix. Drop by large spoonfuls onto a greased baking pan, leaving about an inch between biscuits. Bake until just beginning to turn golden on top. While biscuits are baking, melt the butter and stir in a few liberal dashes of garlic and onion powder. When the biscuits are just beginning to turn golden, take them out of the oven and brush the top of each one with the butter mixture. Sprinkle biscuits with garlic salt, then bake until done.

nana's strawberry surprise

ladies,

this recipe came from the grandmother of one of my parents' college friends. she's only been referred to as nana. she named the recipe "strawberry pretzel dessert." i'm going to rename it "nana's strawberry surprise."

here we go:

for the crust
2 cups crushed pretzels (chunky)
3/4 cup oleo (i used 1/2 C smart balance and 1/4 C real butter and it worked well)
3 tablespoons sugar

mix the ingredients together and press into a 9 x 13 pan. bake @ 375 for 8-10min. let cool

for the rest
8 oz. cream cheese
1 cup sugar
9 oz. cool whip
6 oz. strawberry jello
2 cups boiling water
2 10 oz. packages of frozen strawberries.

blend the cream cheese and sugar until smooth and a little fluffy looking - fold in the cool whip. spread over the pretzel crust

dissolve the jello into the 2 cups of boiling water. stir in the frozen strawberries. let sit for 10 minutes and pour over the cream cheese mixture.

refrigerate until set - but ideally, overnight.

i know, i know. you're thinking, "where's the surprise? you can't call it nana's strawberry surprise without a surprise ingredient." yeah, i know. the surprise is how delicious the pretzel crust turns out. really delicious.

Mystery Ingredient...revealed!

The mystery ingredient is indeed tomato soup. Congratulations for the correct answer go to librarymeow.

Mystery Cake

Can you guess what the secret ingredient is?!? I'll only post it once there are at least 3 guesses.

From Joy of Cooking: "This combination of ingredients makes a surprisingly good cake. But why shouldn't it? The deep secret is _____, which is, after all, a fruit; and curiously contains no eggs or milk."

Have all ingredients at room temperature, above 70 degrees farenheit. Pre-heat oven to 350. Grease a 9-inch square baking pan.

Whisk together thoroughly in a bowl:
2 c. sifted flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp. grated or ground nutmeg
1/2 tsp. ground cloves
1/2 tsp. salt

Beat in a large bowl at high speed until light and fluffy about five minutes:

1/4 c. unsalted butter
1 c. sugar

On low speed, beat in the flour mixture in three parts, alternating with:

[mystery ingredient] in two parts, beating until smooth. Fold in:

1 c. chopped walnuts or pecans
1 c. raisins

Scrape the batter into the pan, smoothing the top. Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 45 minutes. Let cool in pan, on rack. Top w/white icing, cream cheese frosting, or dust with confectioner's sugar.