Ain't no mountain high enough

I love salads with lots of ingredients. This mountain salad has all kinds of great stuff in it. I got the recipe a couple of years ago from my friend Carolyn, who is an excellent cook. We love this salad! Note that this salad requires refrigeration before serving.

THE RECIPE:

1 head green leaf lettuce (or a mix of green leaf and spinach), washed and chopped

1 lb. bacon, cooked and crumbled

6 hard-cooked eggs, chopped

10 oz. frozen peas, thawed

1/2 c. sliced green onion

2 c. shredded cheddar cheese

Dressing:

1/2 c. each mayonnaise, Miracle Whip and milk

Assembly:

Start with half of lettuce. Sprinkle with salt, pepper and sugar. Then layer with half of each remaining ingredient: bacon, egg, onion, peas and cheese. Top with half of dressing, then start over with seasoned lettuce, bacon, egg.....etc. This time, though, reverse the cheese and dressing so you end with cheese on top. Refrigerate for about six hours before serving.

Creamy and dreamy

One of the side dishes for our St. Patrick's Day dinner was this creamy Jello. It is far better than plain Jello, of which I am not usually a fan. The recipe comes from my aunt Susan, who usually makes it for Thanksgiving, using orange Jello instead of lime. She tops it with mandarin oranges. I like it best with orange, but the lime was really yummy, and orange just wouldn't have had quite the same effect for St. Patrick's Day. So, if you're on the fence about Jello, make it creamy and you will be pleasantly surprised.

THE RECIPE:

1 package Jello (a flavor that goes with lemon)

1 package cook-and-serve lemon pudding

In saucepan, make lemon pudding according to package directions. While it cools, make gelatin according to package directions. Whisk the two together until frothy and well-mixed. Pour into 9x13 pan, cover and refrigerate all day or overnight.

Hidden veggies

Here's a name you've probably never heard -- sweet potato enchiladas. I adapted the recipe from one at allrecipes.com. It is a meatless dish, which I'm always happy about. We're trying to be a little healthier around here. The filling is surprisingly good -- creamy and flavorful. My husband and 2-year-old really liked this meal. I'm still interested in tweaking it. I'm not a huge fan of canned red enchilada sauce, so I've got to come up with an alternative. In the comments on the original recipe, some people mentioned substituting green sauce. We'll see! I actually think this filling might be good in the baked taquitos we love. Let me know if you try it, and if you have any successful tweaks.

THE RECIPE:

2 large sweet potatoes, peeled and cubed

1 8-ounce package reduced-fat cream cheese

4 green onions, thinly sliced

1 1/2 tsp. chili powder

1 tsp. ground cumin

1 1/2 tsp. dried oregano

1 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. black pepper

10 corn tortillas

1 10-ounce can red enchilada sauce

1/4 c. reduced-fat sour cream

Shredded cheese

Boil sweet potatoes until tender, 15 to 20 minutes. Drain, then mash them with cream cheese, onions and seasonings. Heat oven to 350 degrees and grease 9x13 pan. Heat three tortillas at a time between two damp paper towels in microwave for about 45 seconds. (This way, they won't crack when you roll them.) Place about 1/3 cup of filling in each tortilla, then roll and place seam-side down in baking dish. Whisk together enchilada sauce and sour cream, then pour over enchiladas. Cover with shredded cheese. Bake for about 30 minutes, or until cheese is beginning to brown.

In the mood for an eclair?

Sometimes I'm in the mood to make dessert from scratch. Sometimes I'm not. This "quick eclair" recipe, which I got from my sister-in-law, is for those days when you want to use store-bought ingredients and still end up looking like you tried. We thought it tasted great; my kids especially loved it. Just make sure you plan ahead for the refrigeration time. I halved the recipe, but the full recipe is included below.

THE RECIPE:

2 small boxes instant vanilla pudding
3 c. milk
1 8-ounce container Cool Whip
1 box graham crackers
1 tub chocolate frosting*

Mix pudding and milk until thickened. Fold in Cool Whip. In 9x13 pan, layer graham crackers, then half of pudding mixture, then graham crackers, then other half of pudding mixture, then graham crackers. Heat frosting until softened and kind of pourable, but not melted. Spread over top graham cracker layer. Refrigerate several hours (I did six hours) or overnight.

*I used extra frosting, because I'm a chocoholic.

Sugar and spice and everything nice

Sweet potatoes with apples and cinnamon make a wonderful side dish. They are easy and delicious. I have used all different kinds of apples with great success. Of course, the dish seemed especially wonderful in the fall, with apples from our own trees.

THE RECIPE:

2 large sweet potatoes, peeled
1/4 c. melted butter
1/4 c. packed brown sugar
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1 apple

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Cut sweet potatoes into 1-inch chunks. Place in 9x13 pan and toss with butter. Sprinkle brown sugar and cinnamon over all, then toss again to coat. Cover with foil and bake about 20 minutes. Core apple -- don't peel -- and cut into chunks. Remove sweet potatoes from oven and add apple chunks, stirring together. Cover again, then bake everything 10 minutes* more.

*That's for an apple that is cold from refrigeration. If yours is room temperature, you should probably cook it a couple of minutes less, so it won't get mushy. You want it to be tender-crisp. Keep in mind, the sweet potatoes need 30 minutes altogether.

Fat-free dessert

If you are counting calories, these chocolate meringue bites might be the dessert for you. It's kind of a melt-in-your-mouth cookie -- very light but still chewy. They are semi-sweet, so a nice dusting of powdered sugar was a must for me. I got the recipe from a health magazine. The cookies are low in carbs and have zero fat, zero cholesterol and only 25 calories each. The magazine boasts, "In fact, you could eat ten of them and still not equal the calories in one piece of chocolate cake!" I thought the cookies were yummy, but I'm gluttonous when it comes to chocolate, so I need a nice helping of fat in order to be completely satisfied. So sad.

THE RECIPE:

1/2 c. unsweetened cocoa powder
Pinch of salt
1/2 c. sugar, divided
3 egg whites
1/8 tsp. cream of tartar
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1/4 tsp. mint extract (optional)
Powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In small bowl, sift together cocoa, salt and 1/4 cup of the sugar. (I didn't sift.) In larger bowl, beat egg whites and cream of tartar until soft peaks form. Beat in remaining 1/4 cup sugar a little at a time until meringue is glossy and stiff peaks form. Fold in cocoa mixture and extracts.

Drop by teaspoonful about 1 inch apart onto foil-lined baking sheet. Bake for 25 minutes. Dust with powdered sugar. Cool completely before peeling off foil.

Perfect Parmesan

My neighbor introduced me to these yummy and easy Parmesan potatoes. I love the crispy, golden Parmesan after it's baked. I'll admit I scraped the crumbs off the pan and ate them.

THE RECIPE:

5 medium russet potatoes, scrubbed and thinly sliced (maybe a quarter-inch?)
1/4 c. melted butter
Garlic powder
Italian seasoning
Pepper
Powdered Parmesan

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Place potatoes on rimmed baking sheet and toss with butter. Spread potatoes out evenly, then sprinkle generously with spices and Parmesan. Bake for 15 minutes, then turn over and sprinkle again. Bake 15 minutes more. I don't recommend lining your pan with foil, because the potatoes will stick to it, making them difficult to turn.