Thursday June 7, 2007 

On Thursdays we present menu ideas for the weekend.  This week’s recipes originated from my book club and I recently had the opportunity to try them out at my husband’s office party.  They have been stress tested and received glowing reviews.  They are all easy to make but require some prep time, most of which can be done first thing in the morning, leaving you free to enjoy the rest of your day.

Menu

Citrus Rice Salad

Chinese Salad

Marinated Kebabs

Citrus Rice Salad

• 2 cups uncooked basmati rice
• 1 cup of premium coconut milk (use the cream off the top)
• 1 cup mandarin sements (canned)
• 2 tbsp fresh mint
• 1/2 cup roasted cashews

Dressing

• 3 tbsp lime juice
• 1 tbsp rice vinegar
• 3 tbsp vegetable oil
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 tsp grated lime peel

Directions:

Place rice in a large sauce pan. Combine coconut milk with water and pour over rice.  Bring to a boil and cook uncovered until holes appear in the surface and almost all of the liquid is absorbed.  Cover, reduce heat to very low and cook 10 minutes.  Turn out rice into a large bowl and fluff to cool.  Add orange segments and herbs to rice.  Add dressing and sprinkle with cashews.

Note:  This recipe is best made and served the same day.

Chinese Salad

• 1 pkg Oriental instant noodles (chicken or beef)
• 1/2 cup of vegetable oil
• 3 tbsp rice vinegar
• 2 tsp white sugar
• 1 head of romaine lettuce or 1/2 napa cabbage
• 4 green onions
• 1/2 cup toasted almond slivers
• 1/4 cup toasted sesame seeds

Directions:

The dressing can be made ahead of time and stored in the fridge.  Combine soup flavour packets from the noodles, oil, vinegar, sugar and salt.

Chop lettuce, and onions,

Just before you’re ready to eat - combine dressing,lettuce,onions, almonds, sesame seeds and slightly crushed noodles.  Toss and serve.

Note: This salad will go soggy quickly so combine ingrediants just before you eat.

Meat Kebabs

• 2 lbs raw beef, lamb or pork cut into 1 1/2″ cubs
• 1 1/2 cups of Kraft Zesty Italian dressing
• wooden skewers soaked in water for 5 minutes (soak just before you cook)

Directions:

Chose one meat to marinate or do all three in separate zip-lock bags.  Pour Kraft dressing over each one and marinate in the fridge for at least 60 minutes.  The longer you marinate, the more tender and flavourful the meat. 

Bring meat to room temperature and thread onto skewers.

Grill meat over medium-high heat until kebabs are browned on the outside and tender on the inside.

Enjoy.

One of my favourite cook books is Cottage Life’s Summer Weekend Cookbook, by Jane Rodmell.  This is a cottage must have and makes a great hostess gift if you are invited to a cottage for the weekend.  Go to www.cottagelife.com to order a copy.

This entry was posted on Thursday, June 7th, 2007 at 11:37 am and is filed under Entertaining. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.