Creamy Avocado Salad Dressing/Dip

This dressing is the BOMB! I’m trying to detox my diet and eat clean, including limiting dairy and starchy foods.  I’m eating a lot of salads and have been using various oils and vinegars as dressing.  Which is great but sometimes a girl wants a thick, creamy, luscious salad dressing.  I threw this together, first without the avocado – and the dressing was watery, thinner than I wanted, and just kinda blah.  I decided to add the avocado and VOILA! It is the holy grail of heart-healthy/low carb salad dressings.   Put it on anything or everything!  Eat it with a spoon! Use it as a dip!  Or hair conditioner (only 1/2 kidding, it would probably be a great hair conditioner). You may want to slather this all over and roll in it (but PLEASE don’t use it as a lube – just.  don’t go there.) If you’re not familiar with veganaise, I buy the Follow Your Heart brand, it’s fabulous and dairy free.

Green Chile Queso Blanco

32 ounces white american cheese, cubed (get this at the deli counter)
8 oz shredded monterrey jack
1 can diced tomatoes
1/2 cup diced green chiles (I used a cup becauce I’m nuts for green chiles)
1/2 finely diced onion
1/4 cup heavy cream
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon cumin
1/2 cup chopped cilantro (or to taste)

Saute diced onion until soft and browned a bit.  Add remaining ingredients and cook over low heat until cheese is melty and you see the face of the Virgin Mary when tasting it.

Add more heavy cream if needed to thin it out a bit.

If you don’t have green chiles you can substitute Rotel tomatoes for the diced tomatoes and add some chopped jalapenos (saute with the onion).  Use whatcha got baby!  That’s what my Mama told me

Blue’s Balsamic Vinaigrette

If you’ve had this at my house, you remember it.  It is the most amazing balsamic vinaigrette recipe I’ve ever found.  I’ve made this for years.  It keeps indefinitely in the fridge and is far better if you make it a day or so in advance.  Also, when kept in the fridge, it has a tendency to solidify a bit.  Just give it a good stir or let it sit out for a little while.

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon sugar
2 pressed garlic cloves (or some garlic powder)
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1/4 teaspoon dried basil
1/4 teaspoon onion powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
1 1/4 cup olive oil
A heaping large spoonful or two of mayonnaise (this binds the dressing)

Directions:

Mix.  TAAA DAAAAH!!  It’s that simple.  Ok, I usually whisk it all together really good.  Then store it in the fridge.  This dressing is *perfect* on Blue’s Goat Cheese Salad.

Hawaiian Style Macaroni Salad

One of our favorite meals in Hawaii was a mixed plate lunch. Hawaiian mixed plate lunches always include pasta salad. I have taken a basic Hawaiian style pasta recipe and modified it to suit my taste. I added the cabbage, lemon juice and vinegar because that’s what I like but you can make the salad without them. If you do, it will be bland. I just love this recipe, it’s creamy and has less fat than most pasta salads. Relatively simple, easy to make, goes with everything.

Pour: 3 cups uncooked elbow macaroni (approximately 1 pound)

Into: 4 quarts boiling water
2 teaspoons salt

Cook until soft. Al dente won’t be as good. This will take 10-15 minutes or does at the Lubbock elevation. True Hawaiians say, “Cook it till it’s fat.”

While it’s cooking, mix the dressing and shred the veggies:

2 carrots, shredded
1/2 head cabbage, chopped and shredded fine

Dressing (Whisk together in small mixing bowl):

1 cup reduced fat mayonnaise
1/2 cup milk
pepper & salt to taste
1 Tablespoons lemon juice
3 Tablespoons Bragg’s apple cider vinegar

Drain cooked pasta, reserving some pasta water to add back to the salad. While pasta is still warm, add shredded veggies and dressing, and 1/2 cup of the pasta water. Put in airtight container and refrigerate until cold if you can stand to leave it alone. Add more pasta water to loosen it up if needed.

Avocado Salsa

This recipe was developed because all the ingredients were sitting on my kitchen counter. We love this salsa with breakfast, and it’s a flavorful way to get your vegetables with the first meal of the day. It’s especially good to give flavor and texture to accompany things that tend to be a bit on the bland or textureless side.
It doesn’t carry over well so you need to eat it pretty soon after making it, no problem at my house

2 ripe avocados
1 Tablespoon lemon juice (or lime)
3 Roma tomatoes, diced (if using other type of tomatoes, drain off excess juice)
1/4 cup onion, finely diced
Chopped cilantro to taste
1 medium hot fresh jalapeno, diced (or roasted green chili)
salt & pepper
olive oil

Halve the avocados, remove the seeds and remove the peel. Finely dice the avocado and sprinkle on lemon juice to prevent it from darkening. Add the diced tomato, onion, cilantro and jalapeno and gently toss together. Sprinkle with salt and pepper if desired. Drizzle olive oil over top.

We love this salsa with grits, eggs, tamale pie, and on on a tostada. Serves 2 at my house. If you don’t have fresh peppers, canned jalapenos are good, too. Frozen Albuquerque Tortilla Company Autumn Roast chiles are also heavenly.

Creamy Jalapeno Dip

This dip (which also makes an incredible salad dressing) was a huge hit at our 2nd Thanksgiving dinner for 2008. Our first dinner was traditional, the 2nd dinner was a Mexican theme feast! Because my brother Grue requested it, of course. As he said then, where else but Blue or Sue’s kitchen can he pretty much list anything that he wants to eat and it just miraculously happens? We obviously love him! Also it goes without saying that after our Mexican feast we continued the traditional “death by pie” dessert lineup. This consisted of not one, not two, but four different fabulous pies!

16 oz. sour cream (can substitute reduced fat sour cream if you wish)

1 packet of Hidden Valley Ranch Dip Mix powder

1/2 c Sofrito

1-3 fresh jalapenos, depending on how hot you like it, coarsely chopped

Drain the sofrito in a small sieve for a few minutes. Put all the ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth. Chill for a few hours for best taste and texture.

Salsa

1 can diced tomatoes (or substitute fresh)
Hatch green chiles to taste (my personal favorite, I use at least 6 because I like it HOT), or substitute jalapenos to taste
1/2 cup sofrito
Salt/pepper to taste

Throw everything into a food processor and process to desired consistency. Add more garlic/onion if needed.