At the restaurant, we used to cut up the leftover sourdough baguettes, drizzle them with lots of garlic butter (fresh garlic) and toast them on cookie sheets in the oven. They require monitoring! New prep cooks always burnt a pan or two up because they thought they could do something else while the croutons were toasting! I loved it if there was just a wee bit of burnt edge to them. The favorite nibble for waiters wanting to nosh was one of those wonderful, garlicky croutons dipped into a dish of our thick blue cheese dressing. Yum! I like experimenting with different breads for croutons. Rye bread makes wonderful croutons with a difference, as do wheat breads. Sometimes I like to make a batch of mixed bread croutons, it adds interest to a plain tossed salad.

Deb, that bread machine makes loaves weekly for me, for Elery, for Amanda, the Monkey Princess' "sugar bread", all the sandwich rolls we use, and now I've been making honey wheat for Elery's Dad, he loves the stuff. It made all the rolls for the sandwiches at our reception and for the wedding guests at the "Redneck Bonanza", plus all the dinner rolls for every holiday since I've gotten it. It's made at least 500 loaves of bread and THOUSANDS of dinner rolls, cinnamon rolls, sandwich rolls. Dishesdone even sent me a book called Electric Bread and I made every single loaf in the book, starting at the front and working my way to the end. Oh yeah, I use it a lot and haven't found a single recipe or dough that it doesn't excel at, so I think of you often and I can't tell you how much I appreciate it. Elery says it is the one kitchen appliance that he knows we'd replace immediately if something happened to it. And the Princess? She weighs a red hot 42 pounds. Bruvver weighs 39 and he's two years younger. Just like me and Aunt Ashley, she's the smallest one in her class, but not the quietest. (grin) Now, just to keep from hi-jacking the thread, I made the paella salad last weekend when Elery was here. Yes, I have a picture, I'll post it tonight. We both loved it, and leftovers went to Amanda, the only other person in the family that eats shrimp. She loved it too. Annie

This is one of my favorites: Shrimp & Snap Pea Salad with Ginger-Soy Vinaigrette Serves 4 as a main course 1-1/2 pounds large shrimp (about 32-36 per pound) 2 cups snap peas (about 1/2 pound, trimmed) 3 green onions, trimmed and minced Ginger-Soy Vinaigrette 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil 2 tablespoons low-sodium soy sauce 2 tablespoons white vinegar 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice 1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger 1/2 teaspoon honey (my "tweak") 3 - 5 dashes hot sauce Garnishes 1/2 cup diced mango 1/2 cup chopped roasted cashews lime wedges Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add shrimp and cook 3 - 4 minutes, until they turn pink. Drain, run under cold water, peel and devein. Meanwhile, bring another pot of salted water to a boil, drop in snap peas and boil, uncovered, 2 - 3 minutes, until just tender and still bright green. Drain and rinse immediately with cold water to stop the cooking. To make vinaigrette: Whisk together olive oil, soy sauce, vinegar, lime juice, ginger, honey, and hot sauce in a small bowl until well-combined. Put shrimp, snap peas, and green onions in a large bowl, add vinaigrette, and toss well. Divide the mixture among 4 plates and garnish each serving with the diced mango, chopped nuts, and lime wedges. Source: The Beach House Cookbook, copyright 2005 Lori Here is a link that might be useful: Showing newest posts for query salad. Show older posts Saturday, June 11, 2011 Rigatoni with Broccoli, Garlic & Breadcrumbs Whenever I visit New York City with my friends and family, we often visit our favorite Italian restaurant there - Carmine's. The mid-town Manhattan location is always busy, especially with the many Broadway patrons before and after shows. I've even had the opportunity to bump into some of Broadway's biggest stars (I once saw Patty Lupone!) The food is always wonderful and plentiful, just like most Italian homes, whether it's one of their wonderful salads, hot or cold appetizers, delicious meat dishes, or, of course, the many pasta dishes they offer. One of my daughter's favorites is their Rigatoni with Broccoli, Garlic & Olive Oil which comes sprinkled with toasted breadcrumbs and grated Parmegiana-Reggiano. It's a delicious non-meat entree that will satisfy even the dedicated carnivores at your dinner table. Rigatoni with Broccoli, Garlic & Breadcrumbs Serves 4 3/4 to 1 pound broccoli florets 1 pound rigatoni 5 tablespoons olive oil 1⁄3 cup dried breadcrumbs 4 - 6 cloves thinly sliced garlic 1⁄4 teaspoon red pepper flakes 1⁄2 cup grated Parmigiana-Reggiano Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil.Add the broccoli and cook until just tender, about 5 minutes. Remove with a slotted spoon and drain. Set aside. Bring the water back to a boil and add the pasta.While the pasta cooks, heat 2 tablespoons of the olive oil in a large, deep skillet over low heat. Add the bread crumbs, stirring, until the crumbs are toasted a golden brown. Remove the breadcrumbs to a small bowl and set aside. Return the skillet to the heat and add the remaining olive oil, garlic, and pepper flakes.Cook until fragrant, then stir in the broccoli. Stir to coat with the oil as the broccoli reheats, and taste for seasoning. If pasta is not yet done, keep the heat low to avoid burning the broccoli. Drain the cooked pasta and add it to the broccoli mixture.Cook over high heat for a minute or so to evaporate any water from the pasta, then stir in the bread crumbs and cheese and serve immediately. You might also like: Shrimp Tacos Gnocchi with Sage Butter Coconut Muffins LinkWithin Posted by Lori (All That Splatters) at 7:41 PM 7 comments Links to this post Labels: Pasta, Vegetables Saturday, May 21, 2011 Garlicky Chicken in Red Pepper Sauce This is another recipe I received in an email from Fine Cooking in their

I know this is too late for your party, but here is a delicious salad dressing recipe from The Gumbo Shop, New Orleans. Especially good with spinach salads.. Gumbo Shop's Pecan Vinaigrette Dressing Description I dug this one out of the restaurant's files in answer to a question on the message board. bit it's good enough to be a keeper. It's on the sweet side. so it's best with salads that have a certain bitterness (spinach salad. for example). Ingredients 1/3 cup minced onion 1 Tbs. minced garlic 1/4 cup Balsamic vinegar 4 tsp. dry mustard 1/3 cup dark brown sugar 1/2 teaspoon salt 1/2 teaspoon black pepper 1 cup extra virgin olive oil 1/2 cup roasted pecan halves. coarsely chopped Methods/steps 1) Combine everything except the olive oil and the pecans in a non-metallic bowl and whisk to blend. 2) While continuing to whisk. pour in the olive oil in a thin stream. increasing the flow as you go. After half the olive oil is in there. add 2 Tbs. water. and continue to add the oil. 3) Stir in the pecans. and serve tossed with greens of your choice. Makes about 2 cups.