Zesty Crabuluxe Cold Pasta Salad

     To me, one of the quintessential summer dishes is the cold pasta salad. However, they seem to come in two varieties: drowning in a vinegar based liquid, or caulked together with horrifying amounts of mayonnaise. I wanted to make my own pasta salad that was lighter on the dressing, but still packed a bunch of flavor. I decided to combine some Miracle Whip with some jalapeno sauce that I have stashed away. The Wife and I were decidedly pleased with the results. My only complaint was that we used linguine. We didn't have any non-noodle pastas available and it was hard to get everything mixed together. The flavor was great. The jalapeno sauce packed plenty of flavor, but not a lot of heat. It was very tasty and the dressing was mercifully light. Give it a try and see how you like it. And remember, if you like it half as much as we did, then we liked it twice as much as you. As always, notes are in blue.

Zesty Crabuluxe Cold Pasta Salad

Ingredients

• 1 pound pasta (we used linguine, but I'd suggest macaroni, rotini or shells. It's really hard to get the cold ingredients mixed well through noodle-type pasta)
• 4 tablespoons whipped dressing (aka Miracle Whip)
• 4 tablespoons jalapeno sauce (click on the link for the recipe. I'm not sure what you'd use for an equivalent. Maybe a nice jalapeno based salsa)
• 1 pound of Crabuluxe, broken into small pieces (imitation crab meat. If you've got the money for a pound of real crab, go nuts)
• 3 dashes Worcestershire sauce
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/2 red onion, chopped
• 1 medium carrot, peeled and shredded
• 1/2 cup frozen peas
• 1 rib celery, finely chopped
• 1 cup shredded Swiss cheese

Directions

1. Cook pasta until al dente. Add the frozen peas to the pot during the last few minutes of cooking. You do not want the pasta to be mushy. Make sure it still has some bite. Drain and allow to cool.
2. In a small bowl, mix the whipped dressing, jalapeno sauce, Worcestershire sauce, and garlic powder.
3. In a large bowl add the cooled pasta and peas, Crabuluxe, cheese and veggies. Add the dressing mixture and toss to incorporate all the ingredients. Put in the fridge and allow to chill for at least one hour.

Good times!

Slow Cooker Spinach Artichoke Dip

     Now and again I take requests on what to cook. My only limitation is that I must have the ingredients on hand if I'm going to actually go ahead and cook it. I got lucky this time and had a request for spinach-artichoke dip. I actually had all the ingredients I figured I would need. I was doing this recipe totally from scratch. I had no previous recipe to work from. The end result? Holy shit, was it good. I'm talking restaurant good. I can say with some level of confidence that if you have this recipe on hand, you'll never need to order it in a restaurant again. Unless you want to. See if I care. As always, notes are in blue.

Slow Cooker
Spinach Artichoke Dip

Ingredients

• 1 10-ounce box frozen spinach, defrosted and squeezed of excess water
• 1 12-ounce can marinated artichoke hearts, drained and chopped
• 8 ounces cream cheese (I always use neufchatel to keep the fat down) cubed
• 1 10-ounce can cream of chicken soup
• 2 teaspoons garlic powder
• 1 cup shredded Swiss cheese

Directions

1. Load all ingredients into a small slow cooker (we used a 1.5 quart cooker)
2. Cover and cook on LOW 2-3 hours, stirring half way through the cooking and again at the end.

Good times!

Bacon Swiss Mini Tarts

     I keep expecting the whole bacon craze to play out, but it is still going strong. People will eat just about anything these days if it incorporates bacon. I'm fairly sure I could serve up cat turds wrapped in bacon and somebody would eat them. What I'm getting at is that there's no shortage of bacon recipes. The wife bought me a book of 101 bacon related recipes for my birthday. I only just got around to trying one out. This particular snacketizer was pretty good. However, I think there was far too much mayo going on here. It managed to overpower most of the other flavors, which is a bit gross. I think a swap out with a bit of cream cheese would be the fix. As always, notes and comments are in blue.

Bacon Swiss Mini Tart
via: 101 Things To Do With Bacon

Ingredients

• 8 strips bacon, cooked and crumbled
• 1 tomato, chopped
• 1/4 cup finely minced onion
• 3/4 cup grated Swiss cheese
• 1/2 cup mayonnaise (I'm going to tell you again that this is WAY too much mayo. I'd cut it back to 1/4 cup mayo and add 1/4 cup cream cheese)
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh basil (I used a teaspoon of dried)
• 1 can (16 ounces) refrigerated flaky buttermilk biscuits (I don't think mine were "flaky." They may have just been regular old biscuits)
• 1-2 teaspoons hot sauce of your choice

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375F degrees and grease a mini muffin pan (this marks the very first time I have used the mini muffin pan. To this point it has sat sullenly in the back of the cabinet)
2. In a bowl, combine bacon, tomato, onion cheese, mayo and basil (Wouldn't it have been easier to say "combine everything except the biscuits?" Why do people needlessly complicate things? This is why I can't leave the house without sedating myself first)
3. Separate biscuits horizontally (I'm not laying on the ground to separate biscuits. I just stood right at the counter and did it) and press halves into mini muffin pan. Fill each biscuit half with some of the bacon mixture. 
4. Bake for 10-12 minutes or until golden brown (we went about 15-18 minutes)

Good Times!

Potato Spinach Pie

     I don't know where I'd be without the Taste of Home: Everyday Light Meals cookbook. This has become one of the most used and abused sources of recipes and inspirations in my kitchen. I think I've only found one dud so far. I especially like that they have recipes that can serve as the entree or side. This Potato Spinach Pie is one of them. It came together easily and was pretty tasty. I think the next time I make it I'll do it in the cast iron pan. I used the pie pan, as instructed, and the potatoes did not cook evenly. It may not actually be the pie pan, though. Any number of factors may be responsible, including the fact that I'm a moron. Regardless, here's the recipe. I did this one with very few changes.

Potato Spinach Pie
via Taste of Home Everyday Light Meals

Ingredients

• 3 cups coarsely shredded and peeled potatoes (as always, I didn't peel the potatoes)
• 2 tablespoons of olive oil, divided
• 1 teaspoon salt, divided
• 1/3 cup chopped onion
• 1 package (about 10 ounces) frozen, chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed dry (pro tip: if you thawed the spinach in the microwave, give it a couple of minutes before you squeeze it dry unless you're a huge fan of scalding the crap out of your hands)
• 1 cup (4 ounces) shredded reduced-fat Swiss cheese
• 1/2 cup fat-free evaporated milk (didn't have fat-free, just used regular)
• 2 eggs, lightly beaten
• 2 egg whites, lightly beaten
• 1/2 to 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

Directions

1. In a bowl, combine the potatoes, 4 teaspoons oil, and 1/2 teaspoon salt. Press onto the bottom of a 9-inch pie plate coated. Bake at 425F for 20-25 minutes until crust is lightly browned. Cool on a wire rack. Reduce heat to 350F.
2. In a nonstick skillet, saute onion in remaining oil until tender. 
3. In a bowl, combine the spinach, cheese, milk, eggs oregano, onion and remaining salt. Pour into crust.
4. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until top begins to brown and a knife inserted in the center comes out clean. Let stand 10 minutes before serving.

Good times!