Pastasaladrecipes

Making a pea salad is quick and easy. Here is the basic recipe with some options to tweak it up a little.

If you’re putting a meal together and need something quick to go with it, a simple pea salad recipe may be the answer.

It’s very simple, just drain the water from a can of peas and put peas into a bowl. Add a little chopped vegetable and a tablespoon or so of mayonnaise and mix.

That’s the basic recipe, here’s a few suggestions to spice it up a little:

1 – Add a slice of finely chopped onion. You don’t need much and it really adds flavour.

2 – Mince a small garlic clove and add to salad. Do this only if you like garlic.

3 – Add other vegetables. Cucumber, cherry tomatoes, bell pepper, celery and more. Chop them up very fine and add sparingly. Like the onion you don’t need much.

4 – Cheese it up. Shred or cube some cheese and throw it in. Any kind will do. You could also use some 3 cheese ranch dressing rather than mayonnaise for the dressing.

5 – Add a hard boiled egg, peeled and chopped of course. This mixes very well with the mayonnaise.

6 – Chopped sweet pickle or relish will sweeten it up and add a little crunch.

7 – Enhance the mayonnaise dressing with a little shot of mustard.

8 – Add a pinch of spice. Oregano, dill, cilantro, any others you may like.

9 – A pinch of salt will bring the flavours together.

10 – You may want to add a can of beans such as green, waxed, garbanzo, kidney etc. Any type of salad bean will do. This is a great way to make your salad more interesting.

When you have your ingredients all together, gently mix and refrigerate. If you are in a hurry to get it on the table just chill it in the freezer for 5 minutes or so.

Most people have a turkey on Thanksgiving, and then they never look at turkey again for the rest of the year. I am not one of these people. I generally have turkey on Thanksgiving, and then have another sometime in the spring. No matter how well I plan, I always end up with more turkey that I know what to do it. I get a bird that is much bigger than what we need, and the leftovers seem to be overwhelming. Perhaps this is why most of us only have a turkey once or twice a year. Knowing what to do with the turkey afterwards can be tricky, but all you need are a few good recipes for turkey.

You might be surprised at the number of recipes for turkey there are out there. If you search through some of the cooking web sites on the Internet, you are going to find a lot of great ideas. The problem is that many times after we have had a large turkey dinner we dont want to look at turkey anymore. You have to freeze some of your turkey meat, and then set aside some recipes for turkey to use in a couple of weeks. You might also want to find out how to safely freeze turkey, and how long that turkey will be good.

When it comes to recipes for turkey in my house, there are just a couple simple ones that I use. My husband absolutely loves cold turkey sandwiches. There are two different recipes for turkey sandwiches that I use. One is so simple that my five-year-old can do it. All you need is two pieces of bread, a layer of mayonnaise, and some turkey. You put it together in a sandwich with a little salt, and you have a great meal. You may also make turkey salad much like you would make chicken salad. This is something that my husband handles, so I really couldnt tell you how to make it.

One of the other recipes for turkey I use is one to make turkey and biscuits. This is much like chicken and biscuits, but you use turkey instead a chicken. There are many other great recipes for turkey out there, all you have to do is look. What you want to make will depend on your cooking skill, and how much time youre willing to put into the endeavor. Remember that you dont have to use all of your turkey up right away, as it is safe to freeze turkey for a period of time. As long as you can do so safely, you have some great turkey ideas for months after youve cooked the actual turkey.

One of the most daunting things about starting a slimming programme is planning what you’re going to eat.

It doesn’t have to be as hard as it seems though. Most meals are simple to make, especially if they are using healthy, fresh ingredients. Forget boiling your vegetables to death and eat them raw, or lightly steam them if you want them to be hot. Don’t peel fruit that doesn’t need peeling, it saves time, and allows you to get the full benefit of the fibre content. There are lots of ways to plan your meals that will help you to achieve your slimming goals.

1) Eat fish

Fish is good for you, particularly oily fish like salmon and mackerel. The other bonus is that fish is quick to cook. You can buy it ready-prepared from the supermarket or the fishmongers and most fish will grill in just a few minutes. It’s also easy to bake in foil, and you can even add some vegetables such as leeks, peppers or tomatoes into the foil so that it all cooks at the same time. Even poaching fish in a little seasoned water doesn’t take long. Plan to eat fish at least twice a week and you have an easy, healthy meal that requires little preparation and little cooking time.

2) Get used to salads

Provided you have the ingredients, you can make a wide range of salads in a short amount of time. Green salads made with romaine lettuce, cucumber, celery and avocado are healthy and can be prepared in 10 minutes. Carrots, dried fruit and lemon juice with sesame or sunflower seeds makes a quick and easy salad to serve with chicken or fish.

3) Steam, don’t boil

Boiling vegetables like broccoli and cabbage reduces the effectiveness of their nutrients and makes them less appetising. Steam broccoli and other vegetables for just a couple of minutes for vibrant, crunchy vegetables and saut cabbage in some lemon juice.

Although you have to change your eating habits when you are slimming, you don’t have to plan your meals a week in advance to make sure you’re eating properly. As long as you’re buying the right foods, cooking them well and not over-eating, you should find your weight loss plan is easy and fun.

If you can boil water you can make a quick and tasty pasta salad with very basic ingredients. All you need is pasta, vegetables, dressing and any other ingredients you may have handy.

Whatever type of pasta you have in your cupboard, from spaghetti to rigatoni or even that old box of macaroni and cheese, you can create a great salad in the time it takes the pasta to cook and cool. The first thing to do before you start cooking any noodles is to look through your kitchen and decide which ingredients will be added to the salad. Here are a few ideas:

1-Vegetables:

You can put just about any vegetable in a pasta salad. Onions, celery, carrots, bell peppers, tomatoes, broccoli, cauliflower, cucumber, raw spinach, etc. are good examples. If you prefer to have your vegetables cooked rather than raw you can throw them in the pot with your pasta. I would wait until the pasta is partially cooked about 3 minutes before adding to keep veggys from overcooking. The tomatoes and cucumber should be raw and added after the pasta is cooked and cooled.

2-Meat and Seafood:

Deli-styled meat makes a great addition to a pasta salad. Beef, chicken, ham and pepperoni are good examples. It doesn’t matter if it’s cubed or thinly sliced, it will blend into the salad nicely.

Any cooked meat can be added be it cooked fresh, leftovers from a previous meal, or meat from a can. Chicken, beef and pork are the 3 main ones.

Seafood is another popular ingredient, freshly cooked or canned. The easiest is to add a can of salmon or tuna to your salad. Some shellfish is availiable canned as well, the most common one being shrimp.

Freshly cooked seafood is becoming quite popular when making salads these days, just make sure it has been properly cared for and cooked. Some examples are scallops, shrimp, prawns, crab, squid, mussels, oysters, clams, and any finfish such as salmon. Smoked salmon is full of flavour and my favorite seafood to add to a salad.

Although meat and/or seafood can enhance your pasta salad, they are not required so if you would prefer to omit them you can still make a perfectly fine salad without them.

3-Cheese:

Many pasta salads have parmesan cheese added to them but any cheese will add flavour. You can use any cheese in any form such as grated, sliced or cubed. For those of you making your salad with pasta from a box of macaroni and cheese you could add the cheese sauce mix that comes in the package. Another option is to use a cheesy dressing such as 3 Cheese Ranch when dressing the salad.

4-Garlic and Olives:

For you garlic lovers out there a clove or two of garlic will add a bit of a bite to your salad. Any kind of sliced olive will blend well in this salad.

5-Spices:

Add spices sparingly, use any of your favorites. Some popular ones are: Oregano, basil, thyme, curry, salt & pepper.

6-Dressing:

For dressing you can go with creamy or an oil & vinegar mix. Any bottled dressing will work or you can make your own. For creamy dressing use about a cup of mayonnaise or yogurt with 1/4 cup of either vinegar, wine, lemon or lime juice. Add a little spice, salt & pepper to taste and you have a creamy dressing.

For an oil/vinegar dressing just substitute the mayonnaise or yogurt for about 1/4 cup salad oil.

Now that you have decided on your ingredients it’s time to boil your pasta. Follow the directions on the package and cook until El Dente. In other words cook pasta until tender but firm(usually about 8-10 minutes).

Drain pasta in a colander, rinse with cold water and set aside. Once pasta has cooled off add all other ingredients you have decided on except dressing and mix. Add dressing sparingly until salad is completely coated. You may have leftover dressing if you made your own.

Cool salad for about 2 hours before serving.