We like the crisp crunch of cauliflower. Add celery and peas and ranch dressing, a bit of tangy onion and crispy bacon, a handful of chopped cashews -- a quick and easy, delicious and colorful Crunchy Pea Salad. You can thaw the peas in the fridge ahead of time. Or not. (I usually don’t.) Break or cut the cauliflower into bite size pieces. I like the looks of the little florets in the salad, but sometimes a knife is needed to keep the pieces small enough to eat easily. Crisp the bacon yourself and crumble. Or use about 3 tablespoons of genuine crumbled bacon off the shelf to save time. Add cashews, just slightly chopped for a bit of texture and taste to “fancy” it up, if desired. I don’t usually keep cashews on hand because they disappear long before they can go into a recipe. (oh, ... [Read More]
Peas
Creamy Pasta and Veggie Salad
Creamy Pasta and Veggie Salad makes a great dinner salad for cool summer eating. It’s also perfect for potlucks and family. However or whenever, this salad makes an appearance it is a well balanced blend of carbs, veggies and proteins. It’s healthy and makes a big salad so it will serve a large number of people – or be a made ahead dinner salad a couple of times for three or four eaters. It’s also a nice change from mayo dressed salads and always disappears quickly. I like for my ingredients to “even out” so there aren’t little bits of leftover ingredients setting around. Three cups of dry pasta is generally about a 16 ounce package. That’s what I use if the dry pasta measures out between 2 ¾ cups and 3 ¼ cups. Any less and the salad won’t have the pasta base needed to carry the other ... [Read More]
Cheddar Chunk Green Pea Salad
Green peas are a harbinger of springtime, one of the cool weather crops that begins to produce early. Green peas are a nutritional powerhouse, a legume rich in vitamins and minerals along with protein. Green peas make a delicious salad that Wheels calls “Traffic Light Salad” because it is red, green and yellow. Add these all together and Cheddar Chunk Pea Salad is the perfect salad to usher in National Salad Month, otherwise known as the Merry Month of May. Peas are legumes, along with beans and lentils. They were one of the first crops to be cultivated by humans and were eaten dried (blech! Sorry . . .personal opinion . . disclaimer ) for thousands of years. They are now grown all over the world, with Canada as the major producer. If you are a gardener, you know peas will ... [Read More]