Creamy Ranch Slaw

Need a light side dish for summer?

Creamy Ranch Slaw is easy to make, low calorie, and sure to please a crowd!  This slaw is dressed with a lite homemade ranch-style dressing.  The taste is perfect for the salad which has some added crunch with celery and carrots.  A winning combination to the ranch dressing.


It's a perfect side dish for hamburgers, hot dogs, or grilled chicken. I recently served it at a beach picnic with my BBQ Pulled Chicken Sandwiches.  The cool flavor and crunchy texture was just perfect with the sandwich.  In fact, MGG ate 2nds right out of the mason jar!

This is a great salad to take along to a picnic, potluck, or any event.  I packed ours in my favorite Italian canning jars.  I just love them!  They are the perfect size for salads, fruits, or sauces.  I use them often to pack take along foods, being so convenient and leak proof with the lid.  Try them when you need the perfect food carrier.  Just make sure to pack it well and keep it in a cooler, or insulated bag with some freezer packs to keep it cold.

It's best eaten the same day, but will keep in the frig for another day without getting too soggy.  You may lose some of the crunch, but the flavor holds up well.  You can also make this ahead of time and keep the salad and dressing separate until ready to serve.  

Such a great summer side dish, I hope you try this soon.  Simple ingredients that carry a flavor punch...just delishhh!

Creamy Ranch Slaw

Serves 8

½ c light mayo

1/3 c plain low-fat yogurt

1/3 c 2% milk

1 T apple cider vinegar

1 t onion powder

¾ t garlic powder

¼ t salt

¼ t pepper

6 c cabbage, shredded

3 -4 stalks celery, sliced

2-3 carrots, peeled and sliced

3 T fresh parsley, roughly chopped

In a medium bowl, mix together the mayo, yogurt, milk, and vinegar with a whisk until smooth and incorporated.  Add onion powder, garlic powder, salt and pepper, stir until mixed well. 

In a large bowl, combine the cabbage, celery, and carrots.  Pour dressing over the vegetables and toss.  Add parsley and toss lightly. 

Note: Fill mason jars with salad for a take along side dish.  Keep cold in a cooler or insulated bag with freezer packs. 

Recipe shared on :  Sunflower Supper Club - weekend potluck

Southern Sundays and BBQ Pulled Chicken Sandwiches

Welcome to Southern Sundays!

I hope everyone had a wonderful week.  I've been working on a very large project and my hours have been long, long, long.  So when I heard that I was going to get the weekend off I jumped at the chance to do something fun!

MGG and I went on a picnic yesterday.  This is where we ate.

Such a beautiful day at the beach.  This is a beach a little north of us, quiet, and less crowded, this pier was built in the 1800's in anticipation of creating a large shipping port.  The weather was just perfect for a nice picnic.  So I created some great "take along" dishes and off we went!

So today I wanted to share with you our main course, BBQ pulled chicken sandwiches.

These were done with a little help from the store, with a new Root Beer BBQ sauce.   So Yummy!!!

I tend to like the Carolina sauce the best with the vinegary flavor, but sometime I like it a little sweet.  After a taste test at my favorite store (Williams Sonoma) I just had to pick up a bottle of this sauce.  I love root beer...and in this sauce, it is sweet, with a bit of a kick in the back end.  So if you love root beer this sauce may be a winner for you!

To make this quick dish I poached a couple of chicken breasts, toasted up some kaiser rolls, and heated the Root Beer BBQ sauce. (Use your favorite sauce)  Once the chicken was done I just shredded it and put it in the simmering sauce.  Simple, easy to transport with some help from some tin foil and an insulated bag.  That's all there is too it.  A wonderful hearty Super Sandwich!

Look how good this looks!!  Sweet and spicy at the same time.  Soooo good!

I served it with some great side dishes, a Creamy Ranch Slaw, and a Jicama Melon fruit salad.  I'll be sharing those recipes with you this week, along with some of my favorite tote-able dishware.  


BBQ Pulled Chicken Sandwiches

serves 2


2 boneless skinless chicken breasts
2 Kaiser rolls
1 bottle of Root Beer BBQ sauce (or your favorite flavor of BBQ sauce)


In a 2 quart sauce pan filled halfway with water, bring water to a boil over high heat.  Add chicken breasts and boil at a slow boil for about 15 minutes.  Chicken will become opaque and white.


Remove chicken and set aside on a cutting board to cool.  Meanwhile, heat oven to "broil".  Split your Kaiser rolls in half and place on a baking sheet.  Toast rolls for about 45 seconds or until golden brown and toasted.  Remove and wrap in foil to keep warm.  


Once chicken is cool enough to touch shred using two forks.  In a medium saucepan add your bottle of BBQ sauce and heat over low heat.  Once it get's bubbly add the shredded chicken and stir to completely coat with sauce.  Cook about 5 minutes until chicken is thoroughly heated through.  


Pack in a storage container if transporting.  Wrap container in tin foil and place in an insulated bag to keep chicken warm.  To serve, divide chicken between the two Kaiser rolls placing on the bottom half of the roll.  Place the top half of roll and serve immediately.

What's your favorite BBQ sauce??

So let's get to the features of last week's party.  I would like to thank everyone for participating.  It's so good to see all your creative food items!  Last week we had a small party, but we had some delishhh entries!

We had two entries that stood out from the crowd.  Different types of food but both are "comfort food".

Congratulations on your featured recipe!

"Best Damn" Short Ribs

by Paula of Call Me PMc

Peach Pie Cookies

by Deana of Country Momma Cooks

I want them both right now!!!

I must eat them...

Congratulations again to you all!  Stop by the creative artist's blog and say "Hi!".  I'm sure they love to hear from you.

So let's party!  I can't wait to see what you all bring this week.  Make sure to tell all your friends so they can join the party as well!

Guidelines:

Please become a follower by joining my site with Google Friends Connect in the right side bar.
Link back to your specific recipe and not to your main site.
Link back to Southern Sundays either in your post, or grab my Southern Sundays Button located in the right side bar.
Please visit a few of the links in the post and say hello to your fellow bloggers!
Enjoy, have fun, cook lots of food, and relish your Southern Sunday!

Santa Fe Stir Fry

I need a 20 minute meal!!

Work is killing me, I'm working very, very late hours.  The other day I was asked to come back in to work and do some work on a project between 11:30pm and 5:00am.  My first thought was "Huh? Are you kidding me???"  So I ran home, took a nap and then was getting ready to go back to work.  Then I get a phone call, and fortunately for me the system bombed and I didn't have to come in.  But here it was 11:30 at night and I was sitting there wide eyed, drumming my fingers wide awake.  Geez!


So there is no doubt with my crazy work schedule that I need a 20 minute meal.


This one is perfect!  Semi-homemade, which helps a gal along in a pinch.  This dish is a stir fry.  Now stir frys are usually associated with Asian cuisine but I thought I'd mess around with the flavors a bit and go southwest on you.  A little help from Uncle Ben's Santa Fe rice make a great addition to the meal.  It's full of corn and black beans, so it really helps you out by having all the mix-ins already in the dish!  The chicken?  well let's just say that it's full of citrus and chili flavoring!


I must say this came out fantastic.  I even gave the recipe to my mom to make, being quick and all.  She LOVED it!

So take if from a work crazed girl...this dinner will be on the table in 20 minutes.  It's hearty and full of southwest flavors.

Hope you enjoy this!


Santa Fe Stir Fry


serves 2


1 chicken breast, skinless and boneless
3 T. Mrs. Dash Fiesta Lime Seasoning
2 T canola oil
1 pouch of Uncle Ben's Santa Fe ready rice
Garnish: cilantro


Cut your chicken breast in to 1" pieces.  Place Fiesta Lime seasoning in a pan and coat the chicken with the seasoning.  


In a hot skillet or wok, add canola oil.  Then add your chicken over medium high heat and stir fry until done.  About 5-7  minutes.  In the meantime place rice pouch in the microwave and heat according to the directions on the package.


Serve chicken over the rice. Garnish with cilantro if desired.  Enjoy!