Panzanella

While I love to create my own recipes, I do watch a LOT of cooking shows for inspiration. I have a notebook full of famous-people-food that I love. Alton, Giada, Sandra Lee, Nadia, and Rachel Ray are some of my favorites. But the other day, I watched Kelsey Nixon make the most amazing sounding Smoky Panzanella with Market Vegetables. I couldn't wait - I went to the store that day to gather the ingredients. 

If you're not familiar with panzanella, it is an Italian bread and tomato salad traditionally made with day-old bread that soaks up this delicious homemade dressing. Kelsey adds cheese and a few other veggies to really take this one over the top. It's such a simple dish but the flavors come together so well and the bread soaks up the dressing and the basil screams summer and, well, I could go on and on about this. It's such an easy and perfect side dish, and it will only get better as summer heats up and tomatoes hit their peak. You should make it. Today. Now. You won't be sorry, I promise.

The Best Chicken Salad

Arby's sells amazing chicken salad. You can get it on bread or wrapped up in a tortilla. It has grapes and nuts and a tangy sweetness that keeps you coming back for more. Then Arby's closed. Well, the one near my house closed. The next closest one is almost an hour away. I had to figure out how to duplicate this awesomeness at home, and I finally nailed it. It's a little different, and I think it might actually be better than the original. I could eat this every single day and be a very happy Mama. Let me know what you think.

Italian Herb Dressing

Bottled salad dressing is expensive! And don't even get me started on the funky things they put in there. This simple dressing is perfect over your favorite lunchtime greens or for marinating meat.

Chicken Caesar Salad Bites

I come from a large family. I have three sisters and we all have our significant others. Add our parents and kids and we are a hungry bunch. To make sure no one person is responsible for feeding everybody, we tend to do our get-togethers potluck style. We all make and bring one or two things and ta-da! Instant buffet. Appetizers, main dishes, sides, and desserts - we've got it all covered. It works out pretty well. Last time we had a party, I wanted to make something different and this is what I came up with. They looked quite impressive on the plate, and everyone loved them.

Taco Salad




I suppose if I'm going to tell you that my two favorite foods in the whole world are pancakes and tacos, that I'd better post recipes for both. I already shared my mini breakfast pigs-in-blankets, so here are some tacos.