Layered Fruit Salad

I know I'm being a slacker with my recipe posts lately but it's the summer and I'm barely cooking these days. However, I've been using some delicious recipes and felt I should be sharing them so you can get great reviews at your summer parties, too.

I made this fruit salad for 2 cook outs in the month of July and it was a hit at both. Once again, my father-in-law is dieting so I wanted to make a fruit salad he could eat but allow other people to dress it up a bit if they weren't watching the scale. So here is my layered fruit salad:

Seasonal fruits and berries of your choice cut into bite size pieces
I used different fruits for each salad, but cantaloupe was a favorite in both

Creamy topping
8oz cream cheese softened
2 cups vanilla, low-fat yogurt
1 tsp almond extract
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
2 tblsp brown sugar

Crunchy Topping
2 1/2 cups crispy rice cereal
1 1/2 cups chopped pecans
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup butter, melted

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Place the cereal and nuts onto a baking pan. Stir in the brown sugar and butter. Bake for 10 to 15 minutes, until toasty. Stir occasionally. Set aside to cool.

Mix cream cheese, yogurt, brown sugar and flavorings in food processor until thoroughly combined. (I was never able to get it completely lump free, but was not a big deal).

When preparing fruit, be sure to coat apples and pears in a little lemon juice or pineapple juice to prevent browning and add sliced bananas just before serving.

To serve place cut up fruit into individual serving bowl, top with cream then sprinkle with crunchy granola like topping.

NOTE: I used a plain puffed rice cereal for one batch of the crunchy topping and although it was tasty, the airy cereal soaked up a lot of butter. I would suggest sticking with the crispy rice (such as Rice Krispies brand).

ABC Salad

My mother-in-law recently discovered this salad and I loved the textures as well as the sweet and sour taste of the dressing. Super simple and all ingredients that I normally have in the house, This recipe is courtesy of Taste of Home.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup canola oil
3 tablespoons lemon juice, divided
1 teaspoon sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup dried cranberries
3 large red apples, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
2 cups fresh broccoli florets
1/2 cup chopped walnuts

Directions:

In a bowl, whisk the oil, 2 tablespoons lemon juice, sugar and salt. Add cranberries; let stand for 10 minutes. In a large bowl, toss apples with remaining lemon juice. Add the broccoli, walnuts and cranberry mixture; toss to coat. Cover and refrigerate for 2 hours or until chilled. Toss before serving. Yield: 6-8 servings.

Chinese Chicken Salad

Another super simple and refreshing salad! It's also healthy, which is a bonus when it tastes so good :) This recipe is for a single serving salad.

1-2 oz chicken
2 cups lettuce
1/4 cup mandarin oranges
2 tsp red wine vinegar
2 tsp soy sauce
1/2 - 1 tsp safflower oil
1 tbls slivered almonds
1/4 cup bean sprouts

Optional croutons - 1 piece of rye or pumpernickel bread twice toasted and cut into pieces.

I love to buy those super huge packs of chicken breasts when they go on sale (I'm a thrifty cook!), cut the entire package into approximately 1 inch cubes, cook in a non-stick skillet with a squirt of Pam and a heavy layer of Mrs Dash Herb & Garlic seasoning. Once the chicken pieces are cooked through, I drain off any excess liquids that did not cook out and then place in a freezer safe container and store in the freezer. This way I can pull out small quantities of cooked chicken as needed for various recipes (and the Mrs Dash seasoning goes well in so many of my recipes).

So for this salad, I would snag 1-2 oz of frozen chicken pieces from the freezer place in the microwave for 30 seconds and my salad is well on it's way to being made in less than 5 minutes.

Once chicken is warmed, you mix the oil, vinegar and soy sauce to make your dressing. Place lettuce in your serving dish, layer all other ingredients, drizzle with dressing and VIOLA - quick, healthy, delicious salad.

Sweet Pecan Apple Salad

About 5 years ago, I was asked to bring "something red" to a church dinner as we were having a Valentine's Day party. This was definitely the first time I had ever thought of food based on it's color. I agreed to bring something red, having no idea what I was going to prepare.

I love the earthy flavor of beets (my husband says they smell like dirt and won't touch them) and combined with the slightly, crispy crunch of a sweet apple and caramel coated pecans this is a simple, colorful salad full of fun textures.

1 tbsp brown sugar
2 tsp butter
1/3 cup pecan halves
3 tbsp oil
5 tsp cider vinegar
1 can (14.5 oz) sliced beets, drained
1 medium golden delicious apple, cored and diced

1. Melt sugar and butter in skillet; add pecans. Cook and stir over low heat 3-4 minutes until caramel colored; cool.

2. Combine oil and vinegar; toss with beets and apple. Add pecans just before serving and serve oer lettuce, if desired.

NOTE: The color of the beets will bleed onto the apple. If you want to keep the colors separate for presentation, toss apples and beets in oil and vinegar separately then layer on your serving plate.