Balsamic Poppyseed Vinaigrette

Stephanie is a master salad maker in my opinion. She's always got great recipes and ingredients to put together to make tasty and beautiful salads. This dressing comes from her. Feel free to modify the actual salad ingredients to fit your tastes and desires.

Dressing:
1/3 cup Balsamic vinegar or fresh lime juice
1/3 cup sugar
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon poppy seeds
3/4 cup olive oil
1/8 cup Dijon mustard

Mix together all ingredients, cover and refrigerate overnight to allow flavors to fully develop

Salad:
1/8 red onion, finely sliced
1/2 cup slivered almonds
3 tablespoons sugar
1 bunch spinach
1 bunch romaine or red leaf
1/2 cup Swiss cheese
1/2 pound bacon

Cook bacon until crispy; let cool and cut into small pieces. Place almonds and sugar in a small non-stick skillet over medium heat and cook until caramelized; set aside. In a large bowl place spinach and romaine; toss. Top with onion, almonds, swiss, and bacon. Drizzle the salad with dressing just before serving

**Notes from Em**
On caramelizing the almonds - I had no idea what I was doing the first time I tried this, and it really freaked me out to just throw dry sugar and nuts into a pan. As the nuts warm up though they release their oils and the sugar clings to the oils.

I like to add Craisins to my salad.

Chicken Enchilada

Chicken Enchilada

From Eating for Life

Serves 2

4 portions chicken breast
4 green onions, sliced
2 T fresh cilantro, chopped
1 jalapeno, seeded and minced
3 cans (10 oz each) green enchilada sauce
8 corn tortillas
1 C reduced-fat cheddar cheese, shredded
2 C lettuce, shredded
1/2 C salsa
1/2 C light sour cream
1 tomato, diced
1 can (2 oz) ripe olives, sliced

Preheat oven to 350. Lightly coat a 9 x 13 baking dish with cooking spray

Place chicken breasts in a large pot and cover with water. Bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce heat to medium and simmer until no longer pink in the center, about 15 minutes. Drain and let cool slightly. Shred cooked chicken by pulling apart with two forks; set aside.

Lightly coat a large skillet with cooking spray and place over medium-high heat. Add green onion, cilantro and jalapeno; saute for 2 minutes. Add shredded chicken and 1 can of enchilada sauce. Cook, stirring occasionally, until heated through, about 5 minutes.

Pour the remaining 2 cans of enchilada sauce in a medium bowl and microwave until warm, about 2 minutes. Dip each tortilla in the heated sauce and fill with about 1/8 of the chicken mixture. Roll up an place, seam-side down, in the prepared baking dish.

Pour remaining heated sauce over enchiladas and sprinkle with cheese. Bake until enchiladas are heated through and cheese is melted, about 15 minutes.

Divide lettuce onto four plates and place a portion of enchiladas on top. Top with a spoonful of salsa, a dollop of sour cream, tomatoes and olives. Serve and enjoy!

Caramel Corn

Caramel Corn

From Susan I.

Serves 12

1/2 C butter
3 T half'n'half
1 C light corn syrup
2 C brown sugar
6-8 quarts air-popped corn

In a large sauce pan over medium-high heat combine butter, half'n'half, corn syrup and brown sugar. Stirring constantly bring mixture to a boil; boil for 3 minutes. This will make a soft caramel that won't go hard. Pour over air-popped corn and mix well until fully coated. The caramel will thicken as it cools. If you want the caramel corn to be crispy bake it for one hour at 250, stirring often.

**Notes from Em**
Don't make the tragic mistake (like I have once or twice) of using a small pan to make the sauce. It expands a LOT when it's boiling, and few things are as hard to clean off a stove as spilled over caramel sauce straight on the burner.

Creamy Dill Chicken and Rice

Creamy Dill Chicken and Rice

Serves 8

4 - 6 Chicken breasts
2 Cans cream of chicken soup
1 C plan yogurt (or sour cream)
1 packet dry Italian dressing mix
1/2 T dill

Combine all ingredients and place in a crock pot on low for 6-8 hours. Serve over a bed of cooked rice.

**Notes from Em**
The original recipe called for twice as much of the ingredients for the sauce, but I found it made WAY too much sauce. I had literally half a crock pot of sauce left and no more chicken. But if you're a sauce person, feel free to take it back to its original doubled amount.

I've also decided it would be really good to throw some baby carrots and/or frozen peas in there