Whether you’re hosting or attending a potluck or party, there can never be too many salads or desserts on offer. These recipes from cookbook author and nutritionist Robin Miller are easy to make and tried-and-true crowd pleasers perfect for your next casual gathering.
And the best part — at least this time of year — they can all be made in the comfort of your air-conditioned kitchen.
Read on for step-by-step guides to making the ultimate Caesar salad, the perfect pasta salad and a go-to potato salad. Plus, we’ve got you covered with Better-than-P.F. Chang’s chicken lettuce wraps and a 3-ingredient vanilla ice cream recipe that doesn’t call for an ice cream maker.
The ultimate Caesar salad
This classic salad is simple and since there aren’t many ingredients in Caesar salad, it’s all the more important that you use high quality inputs since each one needs to bring a lot to the dish. The results are definitely more than the sum of the parts.
Makes: 4 servings
Ingredients
For the croutons:
- 3 tablespoons good-quality olive oil
- 2 cloves garlic, chopped
- ½ French baguette, halved lengthwise and cut or torn into bite-size pieces
- 2 tablespoons good-quality, grated Parmesan cheese
For the dressing:
- ¼ cup fresh lemon juice, about 1 ½ small lemons or 1 large lemon
- 2 cloves garlic, chopped
- 2 tablespoons mayonnaise
- 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
- 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 1 cup good-quality olive oil, if you’re using an electric blender, avoid extra-virgin
- ⅓ cup grated good-quality Parmesan cheese
For the salad:
- 3 heads romaine lettuce, outer leaves removed (and reserved for another use) and inner leaves rinsed, patted dry, and chopped or torn into bite-size pieces
- ⅓ – ½ cup shredded good-quality Parmesan cheese
Preparation:
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Better-than-P.F. Chang’s chicken lettuce wraps
Makes: 4 servings as a main dish, 6 as an appetizer
Ingredients:
- 3 tablespoons soy sauce
- 3 tablespoons hoisin sauce
- 1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil
- 1 tablespoon rice vinegar, regular or seasoned
- 1 tablespoon peanut butter, creamy or chunky
- 1 tablespoon honey
- 2 teaspoons sweet chile sauce
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- ¼ teaspoon ground ginger
- 1 tablespoon peanut oil, or oil of choice
- 1 pound ground chicken
- ½ cup diced carrots
- ⅓ cup minced white onion or spring onion
- 1 green bell pepper, seeded and diced
- 8-ounce can water chestnuts, drained and chopped
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper
- For serving
- Lettuce leaves, such as bibb, Boston, iceberg, or little gem, rinsed and patted dry
- 1/4 cup dry roasted peanuts, chopped
Preparation:
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Perfect pasta salad
This salad is great for entertaining as it’s easy to double or triple to serve a crowd and it’s prep-ahead friendly. You can make pasta salad up to two days in advance (it’s better the second day). Simply store the salad in an airtight container in the refrigerator.
Makes: 12 cups
Ingredients:
- 12 ounces spiral pasta, regular, gluten-free or tricolor (see note above)
- 2 cups seeded and chopped bell peppers, any color, or about 10 chopped sweet mini peppers
- 8 ounces fresh mozzarella, either mozzarella pearls or a block of fresh mozzarella, cubed
- 6 ounces hard salami, such as Genoa, Felino, or Sopressata, cut into bite-size pieces; you can also use pepperoni or ham
- 10 ounces (about 1 cup) grape tomatoes, halved lengthwise
- ½ cup sliced black olives
- ⅓ cup finely chopped red onion
- ¼ cup grated Parmesan cheese, preferably freshly grated
- ¼ cup chopped fresh parsley
- ¼ cup chopped fresh basil (if you are using dried, add ½ teaspoon to the dressing)
- For the Italian dressing:
- ½ cup olive oil
- 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
- 1 teaspoon honey
- 1 teaspoon minced fresh garlic, or ½ teaspoon minced dried garlic
- ½ teaspoon dried oregano
- ½ teaspoon dried basil (if not using fresh)
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper
- Crushed red pepper flakes for serving, optional
Preparation:
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The ultimate potato salad
Meet your new, go-to potato salad recipe. Feel free to make adjustments to seasonings and mix-ins to suit your taste.
Makes: 6-8 servings
Ingredients:
- 2 pounds New/Baby potatoes, Red Bliss, or Fingerling potatoes, cut into 2-inch pieces
- Salt
- 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
- ⅓ cup mayonnaise, regular or light
- ⅓ cup sour cream, regular or light
- 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
- Freshly ground black pepper
- ½ pound bacon, about 6 to 8 strips, cooked until chewy-crisp and chopped
- ½ cup chopped green onions
- 2 stalks celery, finely chopped
- 4-ounce jar pimentos, drained and chopped
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
- Paprika, for serving
Preparation:
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No-churn 3-ingredient vanilla ice cream
Homemade ice cream? Now that’s a flex. Just make sure your heavy cream and sweetened condensed milk are chilled before using. This ensures you’ll get the most volume in your whipped cream. To be extra certain your cream whips up perfectly, you can also chill your mixing bowl and whisk.
Makes: About 2½ pints, more with mix-ins
Ingredients:
- 3 cups heavy cream, chilled
- 14-ounce can sweetened condensed milk, chilled
- 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
- Optional: Mix-ins
Preparation:
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