A Ranch Type Dressing + A New Take on a Lettuce Mix

I've been wanting to get back to trying to perfect a Ranch Dressing. It's one of my favorites and I have a couple go-to store brands, but I know those contain some unpronounceable ingredients that can't be the best, so I need to get serious about one - or several - of my own.

Today I used equal parts sour cream and mayonnaise as my base:

4oz. full fat sour cream

4oz. EVOO mayonnaise

1/2oz. apple cider vinegar

1/2oz. grainy brown mustard

Once those were combined I added:

1/4t of my black and cayenne pepper blend

1/2t garlic salt

1t dry dill

Mix everything together well, adding a little water if needed to get to the viscosity you like. Store in an airtight container in the 'fridge.

I recently had some allergy and sensitivity testing done in regard to environmental factors and different foods. One thing I'm 'sensitive' to is Romaine lettuce, which was surprising and hard, initially, since it's been my go-to for many years.

However, since my lettuce mixes are always so varied, I've quickly been able to switch to dark green curly leaf kale. Here's a good mix containing: kale, purple cabbage, yellow onion, sliced sugar snap peas and cucumber.

The lettuce mix will keep well 3-4 days. The salad dressing will last much longer, at least a couple weeks. Today I added tomato, avocado and some sprouted pumpkin seeds before the dressing. . .Lin

Whole 30 - Another Salad Mix + Lemon-EVOO Dressing

No matter the time of year, and even though I live in Northern Minnesota, I almost always have a BIG fresh greens and vegetable mix in my refrigerator, so a salad can be put together in only a few minutes. This is my current one for the next few days. 

Salad Mix:

1 big petite or regular Romaine

6 big green onions

2 carrots

1 big handful of chopped kale

2c sliced-chopped purple cabbage

1/2 of a long, skinny, bumpy English cucumber

Slice the Romaine lettuce lengthwise into quarters. Cut into 1" cross sections. Wash well in your salad spinner, starting with warm-hot water, then drain and wash in icy cold water. Drain, spin several times to remove all the water. Rinse and dry the outer container then fill with the spun lettuce. Wash and prep the other vegetables then slice or chop them into the lettuce. Use this as the base for a tossed salad, like mine, or grab a handful and top with chopped chicken or tuna packed in EVOO. . .think of other ways to use these greens and vegetables. Chop up some fresh fruit: an apple, grapes, a whole Cutie Mandarin orange, including the skin! Put these on a bed of the greens and drizzle with the dressing. Mmmm, so good and fresh! Add to a pot of soup - grab a handful (put the cucumbers back in the mix) chop it fine and throw it into the pot.

Lemon-EVOO Dressing: 

1c single source EVOO*

1/2c pure lemon juice

2t Himalayan pink salt

1t black+cayenne pepper mix

1/2 -1t granulated roasted garlic - optional

*I can't stress strongly enough, how important it is to read labels on extra virgin olive oil. If there's a 'code' at the bottom - telling which countries the oil came from - PASS on it!! It's been proven, through chemical analysis, that often these multicountry offerings test as substances other than olive oil!! Buy only EVOO from one country / point of origin, i.e.: California, Spain, Italy, Greece, or the best by far: Moroccan.

Combine in a 14oz., or larger, glass jar with a tight-fitting lid. Shake well. This keeps in the refrigerator a long time, a month or more, but probably won't last long. In addition to using as a salad dressing, it would be a good addition, just a drizzle, to mayonnaise for coleslaw, egg salad, tuna salad and also as an excellent marinade for meats.

Today, my salad for a 1pm breakfast-lunch was a big handful of the salad mix, with the addition of 1/2 medium tomato, 1/2 large avocado, 1 hard boiled egg and a handful of walnuts. Drizzled with a good amount of the dressing. Don't worry about this type of 'fat'. It's the absolute best type for your body. So many nutrients here! The fresh vitamins from the greens and tomato, the protein and fiber from the avocado, egg and walnuts. This is anti-inflammatory and it all tastes so great. . .Lin

A Fresh Lettuce Mix

Celebrate The First Official Day of Summer! . . . Make A Lettuce Mix!

Keep it in your spinner container in the refrigerator. It will stay fresh at least 5 days, ready for your additions for all sorts of healthy salads.

Chop or slice the Romaine into your salad spinner. Wash and spin it dry, then add the remaining sliced or chopped vegetables:

2 Romaine hearts

purple cabbage

green cabbage

1 carrot

1/2 lg. purple onion

Serve this as is, for a simple green salad, or add whatever you'd like to make it a side salad, or a whole meal. Shown here with leftover taco type beef, corn and beans. I also added 1/2 an avocado and a drizzle of mayonaise-sour cream-Greek yogurt dressing with pepper, garlic salt and dill. 

It's salad season!

Make a lettuce mix, then be creative! . .Lin

Joann's Danish Cabbage

Here we are. . .It's holiday season once again! This is a much requested recipe. I've posted it here many times, but today I'm making more than usual, so I'm putting it here again, in case you want to serve this to a bigger group.

2-1/2# purple cabbage

6T butter

2/3c sugar

2/3c white vinegar

1t salt 

1/2t fresh ground black pepper

Quarter or 'eighth' each cabbage, then slice in 1/8"-1/4" slices. Combine these ingredients in a 4 quart pot, cover and put on low heat. As it heats up, stir gently to melt the butter and sugar, then simmer gently 2-3 hours.

At the end, stir in 1/3c jelly. The jelly is the only thing I ever vary in this recipe. The original calls for current jelly, but that has a strong metallic taste to me. In the past I've used rosehip preserves, orange marmalade, elderberry jelly, apple jelly. . .

Today I have a choice between raspberry-jalapeño, fig, or Forest Berry Preserves that I found in an Italian market. I think those Italian Forest Berries will win out with their awesome fruity flavors! It's very seedy though so I'll heat the jam to melt it and strain out the seeds, using 1/3c of the clear jelly that will result.

This is best, when made the day before, then heated just before serving. Once you try this recipe you'll want it every time you make lamb, pork, chicken or turkey.

Happy Holidays Everyone 😃🎄🥰

Last Minute Coleslaw

I actually bought this to use in homemade, cooked dog food! 😁

Then my Granddaughter texted to let me know they were doing a spontaneous family cookout. I absolutely had to be there since she'll be having their second child very soon. I so wanted to her and her family and her husband's sweet extended family again. I had healthy frozen chicken sausages to bring, plus. . .some of those mini-crab cakes. . .This took about 5 minutes, and I was off and on the road! Normally, given more time, I would have made it from scratch with whole shredded vegetables, but this is actually an excellent quick option. NO preservatives and very well pre-washed. It's just green cabbage, purple cabbage (yes it's purple, not 'red'!) and carrot. The only thing I had to do was pull out some big thick pieces that the slicer missed.

3/4 or all of a 2# bag of a healthy coleslaw mix

1-2 finely sliced green onions 

fresh ground black pepper

your favorite Poppy Seed Dressing

2T of raspberry white Balsamic vinegar

Mix it well, in a medium to large glass bowl. Cover it with plastic wrap and...OFF...YOU...GO... !

Within an hour it'll be great. Toss it and serve with baked beans, potato salad and great things from the grill. . .Lin

Purple Orange and Green Coleslaw

2 stalks celery + tops

6 green onions

1 big carrot

¾t black pepper

⅓t cayenne pepper

2t white balsamic vinegar

⅓ med. purple cabbage

½ lg. green cabbage

⅓c poppy seed dressing

1t-1T more w.b. vinegar

a splash of water

Ohhh, I love coleslaw!! It's something I crave, regularly. I keep saying someday, I'll try making the kind my mom made, with green cabbage, crushed pineapple and mayonnaise (onion? sugar? carrot? celery? salt and pepper?) I don't have her recipe, but hey. . .I've been known to wing it a time or two! 😉 Yet every time the craving hits, I go back to the basic one I created years ago, with slight variations, of course.

Coleslaw with Tuna Steak and Chipotle Ranch Sauce 

Today I sliced, chopped, and shredded the first ingredients into a big bowl. Seasoned it, then sprinkled it with white balsamic vinegar.  Heinz Salad Vinegar is another favorite of mine if you don't have White Balsamic. Toss this, then let it stand while you slice the cabbage VERY thin. Mix everything together, in an extra large bowl. Check your poppy seed dressing, most are pretty thick. If so, thin it out with more vinegar and a splash of water. Pour this over everything combined in the big bowl. Don't over-dress - it should just barely coat everything. Mix and chill, or just let it stand at room temperature for an hour, before serving.

Toss well before serving.  This goes great with just about everything! . . .Lin

Green and Purple Coleslaw

1 med. green cabbage

½ med. purple cabbage

3 green onions

1 lg. carrot

3 1" cubes of dried papaya

salt and pepper

poppyseed dressing

Heinz Salad Vinegar

Finely slice the cabbage, and onions into a glass bowl.
Using a potato peeler type vegetable shredder, shred the carrot.  Add the chopped papaya, seasonings and a little of the dressing and vinegar.  Toss, cover and chill for a couple hours before serving. . .Lin

Joann's Danish Cabbage

I've posted this twice before, but it always bears repeating. This recipe is not original with me, but rather comes from an old friend, Joann. I've made changes to it over the years but always end up back close to the original. When I start with a recipe that's nearly perfect, it's best to stay true to it. The only exceptions regarding changes, have been my addition of black pepper, and using a different flavor of the jelly at the end. It does seem necessary, but the recipe says to use current jelly, which would have made my English Grandmother happy. That's all she ever bought!  However, to me, that has a metallic flavor, so I've experimented. Plum would be perfect and I think a sour cherry would also be good. I've used elderberry and orange marmalade in the past, but today. I'm going to use a rosehip fruit spread I found in a specialty food shop.  It's made in Germany by a family that's been doing this for over 125 years. It has a nice, interesting flavor! You should try any flavor you think would go well with the cabbage, as long as it's relatively smooth and doesn't contain seeds.

1 med.-lg. head of purple cabbage

½c white vinegar

½c sugar

¼c butter

1t salt

½t black pepper

¼c rosehip fruit spread

Cut the cabbage in quarters and remove the core. Cut each quarter into thirds, lengthwise and then chop, crosswise. Put in a heavy 3qt. pot, add all remaining ingredients except the jelly. Cover and simmer on low heat, 2-3 hour, stirring occasionally. At the end, stir in the jelly. You can serve it immediately, but it's much better when made a day ahead and reheated. IF there are leftovers, they store well, covered in the 'fridge for up to a week.

Dinner For A Grey And Rainy Day :-D

These are not original creations of mine.  They're recipes from Scott - my daughter's fiancee'.  I've posted the cabbage before, but it bears repeating.  Also, these are not-to-be-altered-or-messed-with recipes.  Believe me, I've tried and only succeeded in screwing them up!  Perfection is best left alone.

Scott's Crazy-Awesome Pork Roast

1  2-3#  boneless pork roast

1  can Cream of Mushroom Soup

1  can sauerkraut

~Wash, dry and place pork in the crackpot or heavy soup pot.  Stir sauerkraut and soup together and pour over pork.  Cook on high until it bubbles, then switch to low-medium until pork is tender 4 or more hours.  Serve with the Danish Cabbage and your yummiest mashed potatoes.

JoAnn's (Scott's Mom) Danish Cabbage

1 med-lg head of red cabbage - chop

1/4 c  butter

1/2 c  white sugar

1/2 c  white vinegar

1  t     salt

1/4 c  current jelly

~Combine first 5 ingredients.  Simmer - covered - on low 2-3 hours.  Stir in jelly.  IF there are leftovers, it keeps well for up to a week, covered in the 'fridge.

Shown here with mashed potatoes and sauerkraut-mushroom soup gravy 😋