Ham and Peas Macaroni Salad

Since the pandemic began, we haven’t eaten inside a restaurant. We have visited a few outdoor places, but we are definitely not ready to take a chance on inside dining yet. I find that I really don’t miss it much.  And what I do miss, I am trying to recreate.

That brings us to this tale of Ruby Tuesday’s ham and peas macaroni salad.  That stuff is so damned good. This took a few tries. I think I got it if not perfect then pretty close. I bought a ham steak and rinsed it to remove the salt. I also used homemade dressing. You can just use your favorite brand. You can also substitute any or all of the mayo with ranch. I used baby bells to add a little color, but if you are being true to the RT salad, use green bell peppers.

Now, if I could figure out how to make those pumpernickel croutons….

 

Servings: 6- ½ cup servings (seriously, who eats that little?)
Time:  Prep: 20 minutes, Cook: 9 minutes, Chill: 2 hours
Hardware:  measuring spoons and cups, a cutting board and knives, a mixing bowl, a pot, a colander, a large storage container

Ingredients

• 8 ounces rotini pasta
• ½ cup ranch dressing (your favorite brand or make your own) + 2 tablespoons
• ½ cup mayonnaise
• 1 small bell pepper, diced (½  cup) I used 2 baby bells, one red and one yellow for color
• 1 cup diced, cooked ham
• ½  cup frozen peas
• Salt and pepper

1.  Place the frozen peas in the colander. Cook the pasta according to package directions.  Drain the pasta over the peas. Rinse in very cold water and allow to drain completely.
2. Dice the bell pepper, removing the white pith and seeds. Rinse and dice the ham. Try to make the dice of both the same size.
3. Mix everything with mayo and ½ cup ranch. Reserve the rest of the ranch for later. Taste and adjust the salt and pepper.
4. Refrigerate the salad for at least 2 hours, but preferably overnight.
5. Mix in the reserved dressing and more black pepper just before serving. (Pasta is thirsty and will soak up dressing. The reserved stuff will ensure that your salad is creamy.)

Zucchini Slaw

I realize that most of the recipes that I give you are for main dishes. My husband made grilled chicken last night and I created this simple salad as a side dish to go with it. I  have been working on a how-to video, but it won’t be ready for another week. So, I thought why wait to write up a new recipe.

Zucchini Slaw is really delicious and couldn’t be easier to make. Serve it instead of coleslaw or a salad. You need 8 ounces of prepared squash, so buy 2 large zucchini and 2 large summer squash. If you don’t mind spending the extra money, most grocery stores sell the squash already spiraled and you can save yourself time by buying that.

Servings: 6
Time:  Prep: 10 minutes Chill: 2 hours-Slaw in about 2 hours
Hardware:  Measuring spoons and cups, a cutting board and knife, a veggie peeler, a mixing bowl, a whisk, an airtight storage container 

Ingredients
Dressing

• ⅔ cup mayo
• 1 ½ tablespoons lemon juice
• 2 teaspoons sugar
  
• 1 teaspoon celery seeds
• ½ teaspoon black pepper
• ¼ teaspoon salt

………………..
 Salad

• 8 ounces zucchini
• 8 ounces yellow summer squash
• 4 ounces of matchstick carrots
• Dressing

1. Whisk together the ingredients for the dressing. Set aside
2. Thoroughly wash the squash, especially if the skin is waxy, because you are going to eat the skin. Use the veggie peeler to cut the squash into then strips. Just keep peeling like you do the outside until you reach the seeds. Discard the middle containing the seeds. Cut the long strips into smaller, bite-sized pieces.
3. Toss the squash and carrots. Then toss the slaw with the dressing until everything is thoroughly coated. Chill for at least two hours. Stir and taste and to adjust the salt and pepper just before serving.

Banana Bran Muffins

I love to cook. One of my favorite aspects of cooking is the freedom to be creative. Just add a dash of this, a bit of that and keep tasting until you have something delicious. Baking is not as forgiving. Baking requires much more science than does regular cooking. And not being a patient person, I never really learned to bake.

The lockdown gave me time to teach myself to bake. I watched every baking video imaginable. I read a gazillion cookbooks. And I baked recipe after recipe after recipe. We were all gaining doughy middles when my husband decided he wanted to start eating better.

Long pause. I am not a patient person, but I am also not one to pass up a challenge. When I saw baking something healthy as a dare, it was on!

Banana Bran Muffins are my first original baked good! I am so proud of myself. Not only did these muffins rise, they were really tasty! I used Kellogg’s All Bran cereal. These look like little twigs-not flakes. Fiber One makes a twiggy bran cereal, too. I usually give ideas for making changes to my recipes so you can personalize them to your own tastes. However, I am not comfortable enough with baking to do that yet. Good things these are delicous just like they are!

Servings:  12 muffins (2 muffins have less than 400 calories)
Time:  prep time: 20 minutes, cook time: 20 minutes, muffins in 45 minutes
Hardware:  Measuring cups and spoons, two mixing bowls, a rubber spatula, a fork, a muffin tin, a cooling rack, paper muffin cups (optional)

Ingredients:

• 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour 
• 1 ½ cups bran cereal
• ⅓ cup brown sugar + extra for sprinkling
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
• ¼  teaspoon salt
• 1 cup milk
• 1 large egg
• ¼ cup vegetable oil
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 2 ripe bananas
• Cooking spray

1. Pre-heat the oven to 400˚. If you are using muffin cups put them in the muffin tin. Spray the paper or the tin. Make sure that the spray is in the edges of the cups.
2. In one mixing bowl, stir together the flour, cereal, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt. Set aside. In the other mixing bowl, mash the bananas with the fork. Mix in the milk, egg, oil and vanilla. Mix until everything is completely combined.
3. Gently stir the dry mixture into the wet mixture. Stir just enough to combine. Over stirring will make the muffins dense.
4. Divide the batter evenly into the muffin cups or tins. If you want, sprinkle a tiny pinch of brown sugar onto the top of each muffin.
5. Bake for 20 minutes or until the muffins are evenly a toasty brown. Serve warm with butter, apple butter, jelly or jam.

Peach Salsa

Peach Salsa

Peaches are in season right now. There are many wonderful dishes you can make with them. Try my Sunshine Peach Cobbler. It is amazing.

However, my husband and I are trying to eat less sugar and fat and more veggies and fresh fruit. Peach Salsa helps us move toward that goal without being boring (I’m looking at you steamed broccoli.)

This would be delicious on Jerk Chicken, Pan Seared Pork Chops, Island Pulled Pork Tacos or Crispy Chicken Tacos. You could also eat just the salsa with chips. It was really good!

Servings:  Makes 3 cups
Time:  prep: 5-10 minutes; Rest: 2 hours-overnight
Hardware:  Measuring cups and spoons, a cutting board and a large knife, a pot and a bowl to peel the peaches, a wooden spoon, a zester, an airtight container

Ingredients

• 4 large peaches (about 2 cups)
• 1 jalapeño
• 1 tomato (⅓ cup-3 ounces)
• 1 small red onion (⅓ cup-3 ounces)
• ½ a green pepper or 3 baby bells (⅓ cup-3 ounces)
• 2 tablespoons fresh cilantro
• 1 lime
• Salt and pepper

1.   Peel the peaches. Blanch the jalapeño at the same time. To blanch the pepper, cut it in half, discard the seeds and remove the white ribs. Boil the pepper for about 2 minutes and then plunge it into an ice bath.
2.  Dice the peaches. Zest and juice the lime. Dice and seed the tomato. Dice the onion and peppers. Try to cut the fruit and veggies into equal size pieces.
3.  Mix the fruit and veggies with the cilantro, zest and lime juice.
4.  Salt and pepper to taste. Refrigerate overnight. Allow the salsa to return to just below room temperature before serving.