Chilled Rice Salad

This was made at a Relief Society dinner and was popular.  I liked that it was different from the usual side dish, and yummy!

1 pkg chicken rice-a-roni
1 tsp chicken bouillon or stock base
2 large chicken breasts, cooked and diced
2.5 c mayo or miracle whip
1 green pepper, diced
4 stalks celery, diced
2 oz slivered almonds
Ripe olives, chopped
6 hard boiled eggs (for garnish)

Prepare the rice mix according to package directions, except add bouillon to the water.  Cool.  Add remaining ingredients except for eggs.  Mix well.  Add eggs as a garnish, and chill for at least 1 hour.

Sweet Potato Hash

I saw this recipe in a magazine and decided to try it out.  I thought it was really fresh and yummy, and pretty easy to whip up, too!  I decided I was going to make it again tonight and realized I threw out the magazine just days ago.  Luckily it was posted on the internet, so I decided I better post it before it's lost for good.

Ingredients

• 1  large or 2 small sweet potatoes, peeled and quartered (about 1 lb.)
• 1  Tbsp. vegetable oil
• 1  11-oz. can Southwestern-style corn with black beans and peppers, rinsed and drained
• 1/2  cup dairy sour cream
• 2  Tbsp. chipotle salsa
• 3  medium avocado, peeled, pitted and sliced
•   Fresh cilantro leaves and chili powder (optional)

Directions

1. Place sweet potatoes in a microwave safe dish; cover and cook on 100 percent power (high) for 5 to 8 minutes or just until tender enough to chop. Cool slightly; cut into chunks. Sprinkle lightly with salt.
2. In large skillet, heat oil over medium heat. Add potatoes; cook until browned and crisp-tender, about 3 minutes. Add drained corn to skillet. Cook 3 minutes or until potatoes are tender.
3. Meanwhile, stir together sour cream and chipotle salsa.
4. To serve, divide sweet potato mixture among 4 plates. Top with avocado and serve with chipotle sour cream sauce. Add cilantro and sprinkle chili powder. Makes 4 servings.

Sweet Potato Casserolle

One of my favorite restaurants, Goodwood, just got a new side - sweet potato casserolle. I decided to try it and it was more like dessert. I was browsing through the top recipes on All Recipes today and found this one. It sounds so similar to the one that Goodwood makes, and after seeing the ingredients I can see why it tasted more like dessert - it was! So, even though it was a ways off, come Thanksgiving I will be making this dish for the big family feast. What's another couple of pounds anyway? :)

INGREDIENTS

• 5 sweet potatoes
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 cup butter
• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 2 tablespoons heavy cream
• 1/4 cup butter, softened
• 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
• 1/2 cup chopped pecans

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease a 9x13 inch baking dish.
2. Bake sweet potatoes 35 minutes in the preheated oven, or until they begin to soften. Cool slightly, peel, and mash.
3. In a large bowl, mix the mashed sweet potatoes, salt, 1/4 cup butter, eggs, vanilla extract, cinnamon, sugar, and heavy cream. Transfer to the prepared baking dish.
4. In a medium bowl, combine 1/4 cup butter, flour, brown sugar, and chopped pecans. Mix with a pastry blender or your fingers to the consistency of course meal. Sprinkle over the sweet potato mixture.
5. Bake 30 minutes in the preheated oven, until topping is crisp and lightly browned.

Rice Salad

One of my girlfriends emailed this to me a long time ago. I made it once at a BBQ and my sister-in-laws and I loved it. I came across this as I was cleaning out my computer files. It will be safer here.
1 box Uncle Ben's long grain and wild rice
juice of 1 lemon
3 cooked and diced/shredded chicken breasts
4 scallions, diced
1 red bell pepper, diced
2 small avocados, diced
handful sugar snap peas, i cut them in half
1 cup slivered almonds, toasted
Dressing:1/3 cup seasoned rice wine vinegar
1/3 cup olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 Tbs dijon mustard1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp freshly ground pepper
1/2 tsp sugar
Prepare rice as directed on box. Combine dressing ingredients and gently toss with rice salad. It is so good either at room temp or chilled.

Grandma's Yams

1 small can crushed pineapple
1 large can yams
1 cup pineapple juice
1/2 cup brown sugar packed
1/2 cup sugar
2 tbsp corn starch
1/2 cube butter

Combine all ingredients except for crushed pineapple and yams into a sauce pan. Heat. Bring to boil for 2 minutes, or until thickened. Take off the heat, and add crushed pineapple. Butter square casserolle dish, and add drained yams. Pour sauce over, and bake at 325 for 30 minutes.

**I like to add marshmallows to the top for the last couple minutes.**