Category: Salads and Stuff

Ann’s Rotini Salad

This is a pasta salad that my mother would have loved. It’s sweet but not too sweet, has enough vegetables to give it a crunch and colorful pasta to make it look cheerful. I got this recipe from one of the great cooks who organized the potlucks at the River Falls Journal.

Although Ann says she doesn’t add either salt or pepper when she makes this salad, I include a quarter teaspoon of salt and a dash or two of freshly ground black pepper. Her salad was delicious, but I think that a little salt and pepper makes it even better. If you want to leave them out, feel free to do so.

INGREDIENTS:

16 oz. box of tri-color rotini
2 cups real mayonnaise
1/2 cup vinegar
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup sweetened condensed milk
1/4 tsp. salt
Dash of freshly ground black pepper
3 large carrots
1 large green pepper
1 large onion

PROCEDURE:

Boil the rotini according to the directions on the box. Drain, rinse and let it cool. Make the dressing by whisking the mayonnaise, vinegar, sugar, salt, pepper and milk together in a small bowl.

Peel or scrape and grate the carrots. Wash and remove the stem, seeds and white membrane from the green pepper and peel the onion. Chop the pepper and onion medium fine.

Mix the vegetables with the rotini in a large bowl. Add the dressing and mix everything together thoroughly. Let the salad sit for a few minutes, then taste and adjust the seasoning. If it seems too dry, add a little more mayonnaise and vinegar. For the best flavor, refrigerate the salad overnight.

NOTES: This recipe makes enough salad to feed eight or ten people generously. It makes a good addition to a potluck where it will easily stretch to twenty smaller servings.

This salad tastes even better after a second day in the refrigerator.

Grilled Corn and Avocado Salad with Lime-Cumin Vinaigrette

Susie, one of Jerri’s nieces, is a missionary with World Impact. For many years she worked with African-American and Hispanic families in Watts. Today she serves families in Wichita, Kansas.

Susie speaks Spanish as a second language and has learned many recipes from Latinas with whom she has become friends. Here is a salad that she made for us a couple of years ago that comes from “south of the border.”

Not only is Susie a past president of the Student Government Association at Wichita State University, she is also an excellent cook who shared a great recipe with her aunt and uncle. Follow her directions and I think you’ll agree.

INGREDIENTS:

1/2 tsp. ground cumin
1 tsp. crushed garlic
2 tsp. salt
6 T lime juice (preferably from small, sweet Mexican limes)
1/4 cup oil
2 lb. (about 3 large) avocados, pitted
2 ears of corn, grilled and husked
1/4 lb. red radishes (about 12 medium)
1/4 cup diced red onion

PROCEDURE:

First peel the husks back from the ears of corn and remove the silk. If you happen to find a corn earworm, that’s good news, because it tells you that the farmer did not overuse pesticides. Just remove the worm and cut away and rinse the affected area of the ear. Straighten the husks back over the ears and tie the ends together with a piece of loose husk. Soak the ears in cold water for 15 to 20 minutes.

Warm your grill or start the charcoal while the corn is soaking and prepare the dressing. Wash and juice the limes and crush or mince the garlic very finely. Whisk the cumin, garlic, salt, lime juice and oil together in a small bowl.

Shake the extra water off the ears and grill them over medium heat for about twenty minutes, turning them every four or five minutes, until the kernels are tender when you stick one with a fork or knife. Take the ears from the grill, remove the husks and allow the ears to cool.

The best avocados for this salad are just barely ripe. They should be slightly soft but not mushy. Wash and dry them and cut them in half with a large sharp knife. Remove the pits and use a soup spoon to carefully remove the flesh without crushing it. Slice the flesh into quarter inch thick slices. Put the slices in a large mixing bowl, pour two tablespoons of dressing over the top, and stir gently to coat each slice.

Remove the avocado slices, draining any extra dressing back into the bowl, and arrange them in a layer on a serving platter.

Peel the ears of corn and use a sharp knife to cut the kernels from the cob into the mixing bowl.

Clean and chop the onion into a medium dice. Wash and cut the radishes lengthwise into quarters. If necessary cut the quarters in half to make pieces no more than three-fourths of an inch in any dimension. Add the radishes and onion to the corn in the bowl. Stir in the rest of the dressing and stir to coat the vegetables well.

Use a slotted spoon to remove the vegetables from the dressing. Put them on top of the avocados and serve.

NOTES: Grilled corn is delicious. Soaking the ears provides the extra moisture needed to steam the kernels, and the charred husks add a subtle smoky flavor to the corn. Some people add butter or salt to the ears before grilling, but we let people add whatever they like at the table. Do not add anything to the ears you use for the salad as there is plenty of salt and oil in the dressing.

You can make a wonderful dinner of grilled chicken, grilled ears of corn and this salad. Grill the two ears first and let them cool while the chicken and other ears of corn are cooking and you are making the salad.