Olive Garden Salad Dressing

This is actually a bit cheesier than Olive Garden. I think they use only Romano cheese in their dressing but I like the Romano, Parmesan, Asiago blend better. Maybe it's because I increased the amount of cheese from the original recipe? Whatever, it's very tasty.

Olive Garden Italian Salad Dressing

½ c white vinegar
1/3 cup water
1/3 c veg oil
¼ c corn syrup
4 T. grated Romano cheese (I like the 3 cheese blend better)
2 T dry pectin
2 T. beaten egg or egg substitute (egg substitute gives this a better texture and is more stable)
1 ¼ t. salt
1 t. lemon juice
½ t. minced garlic
¼ t. dried parsley flakes
Pinch of dried oregano
Pinch of crushed red pepper flakes

Combine all of the ingredients with a mixer on medium speed or in a blender on low speed for 30 seconds. Chill at least 1 hour; serve over mixed green or use as a marinade

Enrichment Night...really enriching??

It was Enrichment Night tonight. I am on the committee and had the assignment of food. Because I am a dingbat and can rarely find the phone I missed the meeting that assignments were given out...if you don't want to be in charge of food you should really show up. They decided on soups and left the rest to me. Ok...I can do this. How hard can soups be?

I assigned out the breadsticks because I am yeast challenged. So far so good. I asked 2 others to help with the soup and 1 other person to help with dessert. I'm thinking to myself that this is going to be an easy, breezey no worries kind of assignment! Yay!

Unfortunately 2 full hours of my carefully scheduled day were taken over by a doctor's appointment. Ok, not to worry, I can still do this! And then, because I am apparently recipe comprehension challenged I had to make a flying journey to Walmart for critical forgotten elements. Panic is starting to set in. Can I still pull this off?? Who knows? I am tripling recipes and cooling cake and dirtying every pot in the house.

Thanks to the people that I gave earlier assignments to I managed to finish in the nick of time. So I was dressed a little casual? Who really wants to fire me?

My portion of the dinner was a couple of big pots of Pasta e Fagioli, salad and a pan of Raspberry Supreme. The soup was yum, I am eating it again today. The salad dressing was as good as Olive Garden I think. And Raspberry Supreme is never bad, ever.

So, here is the recipe for the soup. It was really good, I will be doing it again. Sorry, Brianne. :)

And yes, I guess that Enrichment Night is really enriching even with the panic previous to it starting!

Olive Garden Pasta e Fagioli
1 lb ground beef
1 small onion, diced (1 cup)
1 large carrot, julienned (1 cup)
3 stalks celery, chopped (1 cup)
1 cloves garlic, minced
1 14.5 oz cans diced tomatoes
1 15 oz can red kidney beans (with liquid)
1 15 oz can great northern beans (with liquid)
1 15 oz can tomato sauce
1 12 oz can V-8 juice
1 T white vinegar
1 ½ teaspoons salt
1 t oregano
1 t basil
½ t pepper
½ t thyme
½ lb (1/2 pkg) ditali pasta

1. Brown the ground beef in a large saucepan or pot over medium heat. Drain off most of the fat.
2. Add onion, carrot, celery and garlic and sauté for 10 minutes
3. Add remaining ingredients, except pasta, and simmer for 1 hour
4. About 50 minutes into the simmering, cook the pasta in 1 ½ to 2 quarts of boiling water over high heat. Cook for 10 minutes or just until pasta is al dente, or slightly tough. Drain
5. Add the pasta to the large pot of soup. Simmer for 5-10 minutes more and serve.
Serves 8 (big servings)

Calories 610; Total Fat 5.4g; Total Carbohydrates 96.0g; Dietary Fiber 22.1g; Protein 46.2g

Comfort Eating and Strawberry Banana Bread

Last week was an exercise in comfort eating for me. Yes, I gained 3 lbs. No, it doesn't feel particulary better today with the cold, harsh light shining down on the bathroom scale, but at the time it filled a need.

One of the things that I indulged way too much in was Strawberry Banana Bread. I have a weakness for banana bread that does me in every single time I make it. No matter how much I give away I still manage to eat more than my share of warm bananay goodness! What can I say? I am weak.

This is totally yum with the strawberries. It's also good with blueberries or even just the banana bread by itself. Oh, and you really do have to cool it completely before you dump it out of the pan. It will totally disintegrate if you get too anxious!


Strawberry Banana Bread
Makes 2 loaves. 12 slices each

1 cup butter, softened
2 cups granulated sugar
2 cups ripe bananas (about 6 medium-size) , mashed
4 eggs
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons baking soda
3 cups flour
1-1/2 pounds frozen strawberries (I like to chop them into chunks rather than slices), thawed

Grease two 9- by 5-inch loaf pans. Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
In a large mixing bowl, cream the butter and sugar. Incorporate the bananas and scrape the sides of the bowl with the spatula. Add the eggs one at a time, mixing thoroughly after each one. Set aside.

In another bowl, mix tgether the salt, baking soda, and flour. Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture and stir until fully incorporated.

Add the strawberries. Pour into prepared pans and bake for 60 to 75 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool completely on a rack before inverting onto a plate.


Nutrition Facts:
Calories 218; Fat 8.6 g; Cholesterol 51mg; Sodium 267mg; Total Carbohydrates 33.3g;
Dietary Fiber 1.2g; Protein 2.8g

Chicken and Wild Rice Soup

The soup can be dressed either up or down depending on who you are serving. It's a regular in our dinner rotation. Definitely hearty enough to stand on it's own it's also a good starter for a steak and baked potato. (If your children don't like nuts serve them as a garnish. This is also good with bacon added...add the points of course)

Chicken and Wild Rice Soup

Servings: 8/1 cup
Points: 5

INGREDIENTS:
1/2 cup butter 1 finely chopped onion
1/2 cup chopped celery
1/2 cup sliced carrots
1/2 pound fresh sliced mushrooms
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
6 cups chicken broth (fat free)
2 cups cooked wild rice (you can use a wild rice mix if you can't find plain wild rice)
1 pound boneless skinless chicken breasts, cooked and cubed
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon curry powder
1/2 teaspoon mustard powder
1/2 teaspoon dried parsley
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 cup slivered almonds
2 cups half-and-half (fat free)

DIRECTIONS:
Melt butter in a large saucepan over medium heat. Stir in the onion, celery and carrots and saute for 5 minutes. Add the mushrooms and saute for 2 more minutes. Then add the flour and stir well. Gradually pour in the chicken broth, stirring constantly, until all has been added. Bring just to a boil, reduce heat to low and let simmer.

Next, add the rice, chicken, salt, curry powder, mustard powder, parsley, ground black pepper, almonds and sherry. Allow to heat through, then pour in the half-and-half. Let simmer for 1 to 2 hours. (Note: Do not boil or your roux will break)