Vittles Divine

This recipe came from the Top Family Recipe Collections of two of my friends. Knowing what talented cooks they both are, I took a leap of faith, despite my reservations on the whole concept. Peanut butter? With my pasta ? That seemed rather sacrilegious to this little Italian. Especially when I don't really love peanut butter all that much in the first place. Consider me converted. Thank you , Wendy and Allison! Kinley's response: "Wow... Wow.... WOW . This is good. SO good. If you ever go on The Next Food Network Star, you need to make this for sure to win the whole thing!" I made the recipe exactly as written and it was perfect just the way it was. I wasn't familiar enough with some of the ingredients to mess around anyway. I have never used sesame oil, ginger, rice vinegar, or chili-garlic sauce before. 12 ounces linguine ( NOT 16 ounces!) 2-3 breasts of cooked and chopped or shredded chicken. (I used 2 somewhat large ones) Sauce: 1

I made this dressing for our weekend getaway. Mmmmm..... I made it with low-fat buttermilk and it was still delicious. The original recipe came from my friend Bethany. It's been a while since I've had Cafe Rio, but it tasted just like I remembered it, for whatever that's worth. Ingredients 1 pkg. Ranch dressing mix 2-3 tomatillos (remove papery skin), rough chop 1 cup mayo 1 cup buttermilk ½ bunch cilantro 2 cloves garlic juice from 1 lime ½ - 1 jalapeno pepper depending on the size ( remove seeds for less fire... I removed the seeds; 1/2 of a jalapeno pepper without the seeds was plenty for our uber-gringo weak-sauce palates ) Directions Dump everything in a blender and blend until smooth. Refrigerate in air-tight container.

I found this recipe on my friend Allie's recipe blog . It's delicious, fast, and simple. Ingredients 1 tablespoon butter 3/4 cup almonds, blanched and slivered 1 pound spinach, rinsed and torn into bite-size pieces 1 cup dried cranberries 1/2 cup feta cheese 2 tablespoons toasted sesame seeds 1 tablespoon poppy seeds 1/2 cup white sugar 2 teaspoons minced onion 1/4 teaspoon paprika 1/4 cup white wine vinegar 1/4 cup cider vinegar 1/2 cup vegetable oil In a medium saucepan, melt butter over medium heat. Cook and stir almonds in butter until lightly toasted. Remove from heat, and let cool. In a large bowl, combine the spinach with the toasted almonds, cranberries, and feta cheese. In a medium bowl, whisk together the sesame seeds, poppy seeds, sugar, onion, paprika, white wine vinegar, cider vinegar, and vegetable oil. Toss with spinach just before serving. This makes a lot and does not keep well overnight--it gets wilty and gross. This tasty salad is a definite crowd-pleaser,