Ellie's Potato Salad

by Ellie Weightman

2.5 lb red potatoes, scrub and cut into large bite-size pieces

1 tsp apple cider vinegar

3 hard boiled eggs, chop

½ cup celery, chopped

½ cup red onion, chopped

1 clove garlic, mince in garlic press

½ cup lite mayonnaise

1 tsp Dijon country style mustard

1 tsp dried parsley

½ tsp celery seed

1 tsp dried chives

½ tsp salt

1/8 tsp ground pepper

Place the scrubbed, cut up potatoes in a large pot, cover with water and bring to a boil. Once the water boils, simmer for 10 minutes or until potatoes are tender when poked with fork.

While the potatoes are cooking, mix together in a bowl the celery, onion, garlic, parsley, celery seed, chives, salt and pepper. Add the mayonnaise, eggs and mustard and stir to combine.

Drain the potatoes, place in a bowl and drizzle the apple cider vinegar over the potatoes and lightly stir. Place the bowl of potatoes in the refrigerator for 30-45 until they are chilled.

Once the potatoes are chilled, remove from the refrigerator. Add the mayonnaise mixture and stir well.

Creamy Buttermilk Ranch Dressing

by Ellie Weightman - good on salads or used as a vegetable dip

1/2 cup buttermilk

3/4 cup mayonnaise (reg or lite)
1/2 cup sour cream (reg or lite)
1/2 tsp dried parsley
1/8 tsp black pepper
1 1/2 tsp lemon juice
1/2 tsp vinegar
1 1/2 tsp garlic salt
1 1/2 tsp onion powder
1 tbsp sugar
1/2 tsp chopped chives
1/8 tsp celery seed

Combine all ingredients and mix well  with whisk.  Refrigerate overnight to incorporate.

IMPORTANT:  This dressing will only last a week or two in the refrigerate, mainly it depends on the date on the buttermilk and sour cream that you used.

Thousand Island Creamy Dressing

by Ellie Weightman - good in salads or on hamburgers

1 cup mayonnaise (lite or reg)

1/2 cup ketchup
1/2 cup sweet pickle relish
1 pinch salt
1 pinch black pepper

In a small bowl, mix together all ingredients with a whisk until combined.  Refrigerate overnight to incorporate.

Store in a glass mason jar and keep refrigerated.  Will last a few weeks in refrigerator.

Spinach Fusilli Salad / Side Dish

by Ellie Weightman - I threw together this recipe one night to use as a side dish with chicken teriyaki, you can vary the ingredients and the amount of servings to your liking.  This serves 2-3 adults as a side dish.

Ingredients:
2 cups dry Spinach Fusilli pasta
Olive oil
2 slices bacon, fry and crumble
10-12 cherry tomatoes, sliced OR ½ whole tomato, sliced
1 garlic, minced
1 tblsp dry minced onion
1 tblsp fresh parsley, chop
1/3 tblsp fresh basil, chop
1/4 tsp fresh oregano
Salt
Pepper

Directions:
In a 2 qt saucepan, fill 3/4 with cold water. Add the dry minced onion, a dash of salt and 1 tblsp olive oil.

Bring to boil and add pasta, prepare as directed on box, drain and rinse to cool (some of the minced onions will stick to pasta – that’s fine.

Combine tomatoes, garlic, parsley, basil, oregano, dash salt and pepper in bowl. Drizzle a little olive oil over the mix and stir to blend. Add in crumbled bacon. Pour on top of cooled pasta.

Other ingredients may be added to your liking or substituted for any of the above. Suggestions: mushrooms, sub can diced tomatoes for the cherry tomatoes, fresh onions, broccoli, etc.

Garden Salad

by Jeanne B.

This is just a regular salad that I make with dinner every week.  I got most of this from my mother-in-law. It's yummy!

Lettuce (any kind you prefer)
1 cucumber
1 tomato
Onion (I only use a little bit to taste)
2 stalks of celery
1 green pepper
2 stalks of carrots
Extra sharp cheddar cheese
Croutons
Almonds or soy nuts
Raisins


Combine all ingredients and enjoy!

You can use any dressing you like.  I like to make the Zesty Italian with those packets.

Russian Dressing

(Ellie Weightman - Adapted from Allrecipes.com recipe)

1 cup mayonnaise (lite or reg)
1/2 cup sour cream (lite or reg)
1/2 cup ketchup
2 tblsp grated onion* (see below)
1 tsp fresh chives, minced (optional)
1/2 tsp ground dry mustard (or DiJon mustard)
4 drops Tabasco hot sauce
1 tsp Worcestershire Sauce
2 tblsp heavy cream (can sub with light cream)
2 tblsp minced fresh parsley

*Grated Onion – This is really the grated juice of an onion. Either grate an onion using the fine teeth of a hand grater or microplane. You can also put one small onion in a food processor using the grating blade, should not be chunky, but rather like ice slush.  Two tablespoons is usually 1 small onion.

In a medium bowl, whisk together all ingredients until smooth. Chill overnight to let ingredients incorporate.

FYI - this makes a thick, creamy dressing.  It is still good using the light mayo, cream and sour cream but will not be as thick.

WARNING:  Store in a mayonnaise jar with tight lid and label.  Watch date on ingredients to gain the most time for storing (especially sour cream and liquid cream and use within 2 weeks if ingredients had expirations dates a few weeks out). There are no other preservatives used except what is in the original ingredients.