Potluck Dinners

Everyone loves an invite to a potluck dinner, but sometimes figuring out what you are going to take is a big decision. Now The New York Times makes it easier for you with a great collection of fun and interesting potluck recipes. Check it out.

Enjoy!

Dutch Cucumber Salad

When I was growing up we had a birthday tradition, you get to pick your birthday meal. Mine always consisted of some kind of red meat, either steak or cubed steak,  it also included either cheese covered broccoli or cheese covered cauliflower, my dad's mashed potatoes and my Oma's cucumber salad. I rarely make cheese covered broccoli or cauliflower because my kids will eat it plain, which is so much healthier and I have my own mashed potato recipe, but I still crave my Oma's cucumber salad. This is one of the recipes that defines my childhood, I remember having it for every dinner my Oma served and it seemed to be on a regular rotation for my mother's meals also. I started making it right after I got married and my husband and kids love it. It's super easy and has a distinct flavor. My Oma immigrated from Holland with her husband and 4 children after WWll, I never asked her if this is a Dutch recipe, but we consider it one in our home. 

Ingredients

3 cucumbers, peeled and thinly sliced

1 TBSP Sea Salt

Vinegar

2 tsp. vegetable oil

1 tsp paprika

1/2 tsp fresh cracked pepper, maybe more if you like it peppery

Peel and thinly slice cucumbers and place them spread out on a dinner plate. I use a food slicer or sometimes a cheese slicer to slice my cucumbers evenly. Liberally sprinkle sea salt on top of sliced cucumbers, let sit on counter for at least 2 hours. After sitting in the salt take one handful at a time and squeeze out all water from cucumbers, place squeezed cucumbers in a bowl. After you've done this with all of the cucumbers, pour oil and just enough vinegar to almost cover all of the cucumbers. Stir in pepper and paprika. Chill before serving. Serve in small salad bowl to keep the vinegar and oil from spreading onto the rest of your food.

If you are going to serve this immediately you can substitute olive oil for the vegetable oil, but olive oil doesn't refrigerate well.  I never can seem to be able to make enough of this salad, if I used 10 cucumbers we'd still finish the entire salad every meal.

Makes 6 servings 

Thinly slice cucumbers

They should look like this when you are done

I love Sea Salt, it's all I use

mmm, we all love salty cucumbers.

After they have cured for at least 2 hours

squeeze all juices out

Place squeezed cucs in a bowl

Add your oil

And just enough vinegar to almost cover the cucumbers

I love the look of the pepper and paprika

Enjoy!

Chicken Salad

Isn't it funny how the weather dictates what we eat, when it's cold outside we want soup and when it's warm a salad sounds good. Well today the thermometer hit 79 here in central Florida and so salad has been on my mind. I've been craving chicken salad and when I saw some whole wheat pitas at the grocery store my mind was made up. I decided to buy a rotisserie chicken instead of cooking my own, (hey it's hot today) and grabbed some celery, the pitas and headed home. Olivia and I are eating alone tonight since my husband is visiting our son at UF tonight ( Go Gators) and I have a PTSA meeting so I needed something quick and easy.

People can be weird about their chicken salad, I personally don't care for fruit or nuts in mine, but you can totally add them to this recipe if you wish. You could add a little curry powder  and it would change the whole flavor profile, yumm, I love curry! Cilantro can also be added giving it a fresh bold flavor. So really,  this is a make your own kind of chicken salad, I'm just giving you the basics.

Ingredients
1 Rotisserie chicken, torn into bite size pieces
2 tsp white vinegar
A little less than a 1/2 cup of fat free half and half ( if you feel like the salad is dry, add more)
3/4 cup mayonnaise ( you can go off the reservation and use reduced fat or fat free mayo)
5 stalks celery, chopped
1/3 cup red onion, chopped
2 tsp cumin (optional)
Salt and pepper to taste
Pita Pockets
Lettuce

In a bowl combine torn chicken and celery and red onion. In a separate  bowl whisk together mayo, half and half, vinegar and pepper. Pour over the chicken mixture and mix well. Taste at this point and determine how much salt and pepper  you want, I like a lot of pepper in mine. Chill until serving time.
Place 1/2 cup chicken salad into each lettuce lined pita pocket.
Serves 4

I love fat free half and  half

Chicken torn into pieces

Pour mayo mixture into chicken, celery and onions

Mix it all together, taste and salt and pepper

Spoon into pita. 

Enjoy!

Craisin and Pistachio Goat Cheese Log

I love appetizers, so much so that I'm thinking of hosting an appetizer and dessert party. I feel like if you go all out to make amazing appetizers they tend to get pushed to the side during a dinner party, no one wants to ruin their appetite. But if that is all that you are serving, then you can really go wild will tons of  fun apps. This cheese log has a sweet tang that is balanced with the creamy taste of the goat cheese, it is a crowd pleaser.

What is your favorite appetizer?

Ingredients
8 ounces Goat Cheese
1 cup finely chopped pistachios
1 cup finely chopped Craisins
Crackers

Place chopped pistachios and chopped Craisins into a gallon sized ziploc bag, then carefully add  goat cheese log into bag and gently shake until craisins and pistachios evenly coat the cheese. Wrap in saran wrap and chill until 20 minutes before serving. Serve with hearty crackers.

Chop the nuts and crasins finely

I love the colors in this appetizer.

Enjoy!