You may feel that that there just isn’t enough spare time to cook three full meals each day. Don’t worry—many people all over the world can sympathize with you! If you have about half an hour free on the weekend, you can easily make a number of cold dishes that you can store in the fridge to use as a meal or to munch on throughout the weekdays. Below we have a few recipes for cold pastas and salads that will send your taste buds into a frenzy without a great deal of time spent on preparation.

If you’re a big fan of tuna, try whipping up a tuna and bean salad. For this, you’ll need: 3 cups water, 2 cans cannellini beans, 1/3 cup olive oil, 3 teaspoons red wine vinegar, 1 teaspoon salt, fresh pepper to taste, 1 medium red onion, 12 ounces tuna (drained). To prepare, simply mix together the oil, vinegar, salt, and pepper. Pour this mixture over the beans and onion in a shallow bowl. Cover and refrigerate this for at least 1 hour. When you’re ready to eat, transfer the bean mixture to a serving platter with a slotted spoon, then break the tuna into chunks and arrange it on the bean mixture. You can either leave it in the fridge to chill for a bit, or you can eat it straight away.

Greek salad is wonderful at any time of the year, but especially so in the summertime. To make your own Greek salad, you will need the following ingredients: 2 chopped green bell pepper, 1 peeled and chopped cucumber, 3 chopped tomatoes, 2 stalks of chopped celery, 1/4 pound of feta cheese chopped into half inch cubes, 1/2 red onion (sliced), 1/2 teaspoon of kosher salt, pepper to taste (freshly ground is best), 3 teaspoons of vinegar, 1/4 cup of oil, 1/2 teaspoon of oregano, 1 teaspoon of fresh minced basil. To prepare this, simply mix the peppers, cucumber, tomatoes, celery, feta cheese, Season the mixture with salt, pepper, oil, vinegar, basil, and oregano. Serve immediately.

Many people have a special place in their heart (or should I say stomach?) for chicken. Poultry is timeless, and you don’t necessarily have to have hours of time on your hands to enjoy a nice chicken meal. Cold chicken salad is a cinch to make and can be slathered between two pieces of bread for a chicken salad sandwich, chucked on top of a bed of lettuce and drizzled with ranch, or simply spread on Ritz crackers. To serve one person as part of a meal, or two for a snack, you’ll need: 1 can of chicken chunks (found near the canned tuna), 1/2 cup of chopped celery, 1/3 cup chopped sweet pickle or relish, 1 chopped boiled egg, 1/4 cup of ranch dressing, and 1/4 cup of mayonnaise. To prepare, simply break up the chicken chunks in a bowl using a fork until the chicken is shredded. Add the remaining ingredients and mix well. Best if served chilled.

If you want something with a little Oriental flare, here’s a great recipe for a Chinese pasta salad. The ingredients consist of: 1 and 1/2 cups of snow peas, 250 grams of vermicelli rice, 1 thin-sliced red pepper, 1/2 thin-sliced cucumber, 6 ounces of cooked shrimp, 130 grams of crabmeat (chopped imitation crab sticks work well, too), 1 tablespoon fine-chopped ginger, 1 chopped garlic clove, 2 tablespoons of sesame oil, 1/2 teaspoon of black pepper, 1 and 1/2 teaspoons of salt, 2 tablespoons of lemon juice, 3 teaspoons of vegetable oil, 1 teaspoon of red wine vinegar. First you need to wash and trim the snow peas. Put them into a bowl and add just enough boiling water to completely submerge them. Let that stand for about 10 minutes, then drain and set aside. Boil water in a pot and cook the vermicelli for about 3 or 4 minutes. When the vermicelli is cooked, drain them and rinse with cool water, then set aside. In a large bowl, combine the vermicelli, snow peas, red pepper, cucumber, shrimp, and crabmeat. In a small bowl, mix the ginger, garlic, sesame oil, salt, pepper, vegetable oil, lemon juice, and vinegar. Once this has been mixed thoroughly, pour it over the ingredients in the large bowl, mix thoroughly, and allow it to chill before serving.

As you can see, it doesn’t take hours in the kitchen to make a tasty dish. Most of these dishes will last in a sealed container for a few days if kept refrigerated, which means that you have a great snack on hand for when you’re feeling a little peckish. These recipes are very flexible, so don’t be afraid to mess around a little with the ingredients to better suit your taste.

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Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/ – Busy Lifestyle? Try These Easy Salad Recipes!

Quick salad recipes are ideal for people on the go. It is quick, simple and easy to prepare.

Quick recipes are the simplest and fastest to prepare. It is ideal for people who have no time to prepare a full meal. A variety of salad can be prepared with simple recipes and procedures that will only take a few minutes.

Here are some quick salad recipes:
Grilled Ham Salad
Grilled ham salad can be prepared in 15 to 20 minutes.

Ingredients:
10 ounce of package salad green
½ pounds totally cooked ham steak slices
¼ cup of peach preserves
½ cup honey mustard salad dressing
1 ½ cup of cubed cheese

Prepare and heat the grill. Put the salad greens in a large bowl. Thoroughly brush the slices of steak with the preserves and put it on the grill. Cook in moderate heat for around 9 to 13 minutes. When it’s hot already, turn the steak upside down and apply more preserves. Afterwards transfer the ham to a chopping board and chop it into cubes about 1 inch thick. Mix the chopped ham together with all the ingredients. It is now ready to serve. This quick salad recipe is ideal for 4 serving.

Pasta Salad

Ingredients:
1 pack of pasta
Celery
Broccoli
Onions
Garlic
Cheese
Chicken
Salt
Spices

Ingredients for the salad cream:
1 cup of mayonnaise
2 tablespoon of wine
1 clove of crushed garlic
1 tablespoon of basil
Salt and pepper for a little taste
Yogurt
¼ cup of salad oil

Boil the pasta noodles for 10 minutes. Drain the water from the noodles and allow it to cool.

While waiting for the noodles to cool down, chop the vegetables and make your salad dressing. When the noodles are already cool, add all the ingredients putting the salad dressing last. Mix all of the ingredients together. Store in the fridge for 1 and half hours before serving.

Broccoli Bacon Salad
Broccoli bacon salad is one of the traditional types of salad. In this quick recipe, we are going to use some red grapes as a replacement for raisins. If you want you can also include raisins or dried cherries.

Ingredients:
24 ounces bags of frozen broccoli florets
16 ounces bacon which is thick cut
1 red onion which is chopped into fine pieces
2 cloves of garlic
2 cups of red grapes
½ cup sliced almonds
1 ½ cup of mayonnaise
½ cup of yogurt
1/3 cup of sugar
3 tablespoons of apple cider vinegar
1/8 teaspoon of white pepper

Boil water in a big pot. Put the frozen florets then boil. Remove the broccoli and dip in ice water and drain using a paper towel. Cook the bacon until crisp. Afterwards, drain with a paper towel. Remove the excess fat on the pan. Add garlic with the red onions and then cook for 4 minutes and allow the vegetable to soften. Mix the broccoli, onions, garlic, sliced almonds, grapes and bacon in a large bowl. Mix it gently.

Use a small sized bowl and mix all the remaining ingredients using a wire whisk. Add the mixture to the salad while stirring it gently until all salad is coated. Store the salad in the refrigerator for 12 hours and then serve.

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Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/ – Quick Salad Recipes

Potato Salad is personal again. If you love potato salad you know how much you miss that in the picnics which seem no fun without that. If you always carve for new potato salad recipes this is the right place for you. Salad-recipes.net provides you with a wide variety of fresh salads recipes which are as good when homemade. The salad recipes are simple yet mouthwatering with all the essential nutrients if you are calorie conscious.

Lets start with a few interesting Potato salad recipes.

German-Style Potato Salad

Ingredients:

1 1/2 pounds red-skin potatoes, cooked, peeled & diced large

2 ribs sliced celery

1 large red onion, minced

1 large clove garlic, minced

3 slices bacon

1/2 cup apple cider vinegar

2 tbsp sugar

1 tbsp mayonnaise

salt

pepper

Directions:

Boil the potatoes until tender yet firm. Keep them warm after they have been cooked.

In a skillet or frying pan, fry the bacon. Crumble the bacon and set it aside.

Use the rendered bacon-fat to cook the garlic and onion in a deep skillet.

When they are soft, remove them to a large bowl and add the sugar, apple cider vinegar, mayonnaise, salt and pepper.

Toss in the potatoes and celery. Stir well.

Garnish the salad with the crumbled bacon.

Indian Potato Salad

Ingredients:

1 1/2 pound red or new potatoes, scrubbed & cut into 1/2″ dice

1/2 tsp toasted cumin seeds

1 tbsp garam masala ( see following recipe* )

2/3 cup nonfat yogurt

3 to 4 tbsp fresh lemon juice

1 tomato, seeded & cut into 1/2″ dice

1/2 small red onion, finely chopped

3 tbsp coarsely chopped fresh cilantro

1 tbsp chopped fresh mint ( optional )

Directions:

Place the potatoes in a large sauce pan and cover them with cold water.

Bring the potatoes to a boil, then reduce the heat and let them simmer for 8 to 10 minutes or until they are tender yet firm.

Drain the potatoes in a colander then place them in a large bowl.

Lightly toast the cumin seeds in a dry skillet over medium heat for 3 minutes or until lightly browned and fragrant.

Stir the garam masala, lemon juice, yogurt and potatoes together. Let the mixture cool completely.

Shortly before serving mix in the tomato, onion, salt, pepper and half the cilantro.

If you are using the mint, add that now as well.

Season to taste with the lemon juice, masala, and salt.

Place the salad on its platter or serving bowl. Spoon the yogurt into the center.

Sprinkle it with the remaining cilantro and cumin seeds and serve.

*Quick Garam Masla

Ingredients:

1 tsp cumin seeds

1 tsp coriander seeds

1/4 tsp sesame seeds

1/4 tsp black peppercorns

1/2 tsp kosher salt

1 cardamom pod

Directions:

Roast the ingredients in a dry skillet for about two minutes or until lightly browned and very fragrant.

Grind the mixture in a spice-mill or coffee grinder or pulverize it with a mortar and pestle.

This recipe should yield about one tablespoon.

With this potato salad recipe you would enjoy every moment of your next picnic or weekend party.

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Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/ – Potato Salad Recipes