Alisa's Pasta Salad

We've been known to ask Alisa to bring this salad to our family get togethers, because it's SOOO delicious!

1/2 box Rotini Pasta--cooked, drained, and cooled
1 medium sized cucumber, chopped
1/4 red or green pepper, chopped
Broccoli
Grape or cherry tomatoes
Parmesan cheese
Sliced olives
Diced chicken, cooked (optional)
Caesar Parmesan Vinaigrette salad dressing


Toss all ingredients together in a large bowl.  Refrigerate until served.

Holly's Apple-Snickers Salad

6 green apples, cored and cubed (for added color, do not peel)
6 large Snickers candy bars, cubed (can use smaller Snickers bars--approximately 12 oz. total)
1 small pkg. instant vanilla pudding
1 large carton Cool Whip
8 oz. cream cheese, softened

Beat Cool Whip and cream cheese together.  Mix in dry pudding.  Fold in apples and Snickers.  Chill until served.

Karen's Chicken Salad Puffs

Karen made these delicious puffs for Natalie and Aaron' s reception! They were so good that they were the first thing we ran out of!

Puffs:

Bring 1 c. water and 1/2 c. butter to a rolling boil. Turn heat to low and stir in 1 c. flour; stir until mixture is like a paste. Remove from heat and add 4 eggs; beat until glossy. Place rounded teaspoons of batter on greased cookie sheet. Bake at 400 degrees until golden.

Chicken Salad:

2 c. finely chopped cooked chicken
1/3 c. mayonnaise or salad dressing
1 TB. chopped onion or 1/2 tsp. dried minced onion
Dash of ginger
2 tsp. lemon juice
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
2 stalks celery, finely chopped (about 1/2 c.)
Chopped grapes (optional)

Mix ingredients together and spread onto cooled puffs.

Keith's Award-Winning Raspberry Salad

We had this incredible salad at a High Priest Valentine's dinner...And yes, it actually won an award! It's easy and DELICIOUS!

1 large package raspberry Jell-o
1 8 oz. pkg. cream cheese, softened
1 12 oz. bag frozen raspberries
1 medium container Cool Whip

Completely dissolve Jell-o in a large bowl with 2 cups boiling water. Add cream cheese to hot Jell-o mixture and stir well (cream cheese will melt a little, and you will still have some small "chunks" of cream cheese). Stir in 1 cup cold water and raspberries. Chill 3 hours or until soft set. After Jell-o is set, fold in Cool Whip. Again, there will be small "chunks" of Jell-o mixture. Chill until ready to serve. Garnish with additional raspberries and Cool Whip, if desired.

Broccoli Salad

This is another of Mema's classic recipes--SO good! I have substituted plain yogurt for the mayo, and it's just as good, if not better!

1 bunch broccoli
1/2 red onion
1 lb. bacon
1/4 c. sugar
2 TB. apple cider vinegar
1 c. mayonnaise or Miracle Whip
1 pkg. slivered almonds (optional)
1 c. raisins or craisins

Cut broccoli into bite size pieces; dice onion. Cook bacon until crispy and crumble into bowl with broccoli. Add onion, almonds, raisins or craisins, vinegar, sugar, and mayonnaise. Toss to blend. Let stand in refrigerator before serving.

Watergate Salad - posted by Melissa

Another recipe from Kristy...Not sure where it got its name, but it's delicious, just the same...

1 box pistachio instant pudding
1 medium carton whipped topping
1 20 oz. can pineapple tidbits, drained
1 c. marshmallows

Mix together and chill.

Becky's Bean Salad

From my SIL Becky....

1 each, yellow and green bell pepper, diced. (you can also use red or orange pepper)
1 q-cumber seeded, and diced
1/2 red onion chopped into small bits
3 C of corn, (6 ears scraped from the cob)
3 large tomtoes cubed
1/4 C chopped fresh flat leaf parsley
1/4 C chopped fresh cilantro
4 T red wine vinegar
2 T olive oil
salt and pepper to taste
3 C cooked black beans.

Method:
Combine all ingredients except beans and chill for about an hour. Add cooled beans right before serving.

Everything Salad

Probably the best salad ever. My mother in law requests it nearly every Thanksgiving!!

½ cup sliced almonds
3 T. sugar

Stir together in frying pan over medium heat until sugar begins to melt. Keep stirring until almonds are coated and begin to turn golden brown. Spread out on foil to cool.

!/2 head green leaf Lettuce
½ head romaine Lettuce
1 Cup chopped celery
4 green onions, chopped
1 can mandarin oranges (11oz.), drained
1 avocado, chopped
1 diced apple
¼ cup craisins
½ cup crumbled bleu cheese or feta cheese

Mix all ingredients together and toss with dressing:

½ tsp. salt
½ tsp. pepper
¼ cup light olive oil
1 T. chopped parsley
2 T. sugar
2 T. white wine vinegar

Dressing tastes better if it has an hour or so to blend together before tossing w/salad.

Melissa's Salad - posted by Melissa

This is another AMAZING recipe from my friend, Kristy! It is named after her daughter, although I LOVE it, too...and so do my kids!

1 - 2 small cans mandarin oranges, drained
1 small box of orange jell-o
1 medium container of whipped topping

Mix jell-o and whipped topping together in bowl. Add oranges and stir gently. Chill for at least 30 minutes before serving.