Broccoli and Tortellini Salad

This salad is the best. It comes from a former co-worker of mine, who was always asked to bring it to events.

Salad Ingredients:

• 6 slices of bacon
• 1 1/4 lb. fresh or frozen cheese tortellini
• 2-3 heads broccoli, chopped into florets
• 1 cup raisins
• 1 cup sunflower seeds
• red onion, finely chopped (to taste)

Dressing Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup mayo
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 2 t cider vinegar

Cook bacon, cool, and crumble. Cook tortellini for 8-10 minutes, drain, and rinse under cool water. Mix dressing ingredients. Combine all remaining ingredients in a large bowl; add dressing; toss. Serve chilled.

Loaded Baked Potato Soup

Loaded Baked Potato Soup
Carnation Café, Disneyland (from Delicious Disney)
Serves 6

Ingredients:

1 pound bacon, roughly chopped
1 medium yellow onion, diced
1 large carrot, peeled and diced
3/4 cup diced celery
4 large russet potatoes, peeled and diced
4 medium red potatoes, diced
1/4 cup flour
2 cups chicken or vegetable stock
Coarse salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste
4 cups heavy cream

Optional Garnishes: chopped chives, bacon bits, sour cream, shredded cheddar and Monterey Jack cheeses

Directions:

In a 6 – 8 quart stockpot over medium heat, fry bacon until crisp.
Remove bacon and drain on paper towels (reserve half for garnish). In the bacon fat, cook onions, carrots, and celery until the onions are translucent. Add potatoes and cook for 4 minutes, stirring occasionally. Sprinkle in flour and stir constantly over low heat about 5 to 7 minutes until the mixture thickens slightly. Add stock and half of the bacon. Season with salt and pepper. Over medium-high heat, bring the soup to a simmer and cook for 25 minutes, or until the potatoes are soft. Mash some of the potatoes for thicker, creamier texture. Add cream and simmer for 5 minutes. Adjust thickness by adding water or stock. The soup should have a creamy consistency. Season to taste, and garnish with toppings, if desired.

~Soak diced potatoes in cold water until ready to use to keep them from turning brown. To make bacon easier to chop, lightly freeze.

Gourmet Chicken Pizza

This is our favorite pizza--we make it often, probably at least once every other week. Admittedly, it takes some prep work, but I've made it so much I've gotten pretty fast. Cooking the meats ahead helps a lot.

Pizza dough for 1 pizza*
1 boneless skinless chicken breast
BBQ sauce
Ranch dressing
mozzarella cheese, shredded
cheddar cheeses, shredded
1 large chopped tomato
chopped mushrooms (optional)
1/2 pound bacon (optional)
chopped green onions (optional)

Cut chicken into small pieces. Saute in BBQ sauce over medium heat until cooked through. Set aside. Fry and crumble bacon. Set aside.

Preheat oven to temperature specified on your pizza dough mix or recipe. Lightly grease a pizza pan. Press pizza dough into pan.

Spread ranch dressing over dough. Sprinkle on mozzarella cheese. Place tomatoes, chicken, onion, bacon, and mushrooms on top. Top with cheddar cheese. Bake for amount of time specified on your pizza dough recipe, or until crust is golden and cheese is melted.

*Notes:
For the pizza crust, I love this recipe from allrecipes.com. I just throw all the ingredients in the bread maker in the afternoon, and let it rise for a while. It makes about 2 pizzas worth of crust, so I usually make an extra one with half pepperoni or something, and half cheese (for Amelia).

Also, the toppings can be totally modified--use whatever you like that you think goes well with chicken. I usually omit the onions. I love it with bacon but sometimes I don't have time or bacon, and it's still fabulous without.