Broccoli Ham Ring

I made a spiral ham on Monday night for dinner and we had ham leftovers last night.  Tonight, I wanted to so something a little different with the ham so I decided to made this Broccoli Ham Ring.  I took the recipe from one of my Pampered Chef cookbooks.  So easy and very delish!  Kids especially love to help.  My son actually did this one with my help.

Broccoli Ham Ring
4 oz. ham, chopped (1 cup)
1/4 pound broccoli, chopped (1 cup)  I used frozen chopped broccoli.  I just made sure I drained it well.
1/4 cup onion, chopped
1/4 cup fresh parsley,snipped
1-1/2 cups (6 oz.) shredded Swiss or Cheddar Cheese
2 TBS Dijon mustard
1 tsp. lemon juice
2 pkgs., (8 oz. each) refrigerated crescent rolls

Preheat oven to 350ºF.  Chop ham, broccoli and onion and place in a bowl.  Add parsley, shredded cheese, lemon juice and mustard to ham mixture.  Mix well.  To assemble ring, unroll crescent dough, separate into 16 triangles.  Arrange triangles in a circle on a pizza stone with wide ends of triangles overlapping in the center of the ring and points toward the outside.  (There should be a 5-inch diameter opening in the center of the stone.)  Scoop ham mixture evenly onto widest part of each triangle.  Bring points of triangles up over filling and tuck under wide ends of dough at center of ring.  (Filling will not be completely covered.)  Bake for 25-30 minutes or until deep golden brown.  Cut into 8 servings. 

Thai Salad

This is one of my family's favorites and a great dish to take to potlucks.  It's served cold and I promise it will be gone fast!

1 PKG. Linguini

2TBS. Canola or Vegetable Oil

2 TBS Sesame Oil

1 Tsp. Crushed Red Pepper Flakes (optional)

3 TBS Honey

3 TBS Soy Sauce

Pinch of Salt

3/4 cup Green Onion

1/2 cup Cilantro

Crushed Peanuts

Toasted Sesame Seeds

Bring a large pot of water to a boil and add the dry linguini.  Cook as directed on pkg about 7-10 minutes.  

In a metal saucepan, heat vegetable oil, sesame oil and pepper flakes over medium heat for about 1 minute.  You really need to watch so the flakes don't burn.  Add the honey and wisk really good to incorporate into the oil.  Carefully add the soy sauce and continue mixing until oil is fully incorporated.  (sometimes I use an imersion blender for this.  Just turn off the heat first)

Once linguini is cooked, drain well, and mix well with sauce.  Let sit in the refrigerator. 

Chop green onion and cilantro and add to salad. 

Add toasted sesame seeds and crushed peanuts just before serving

I like my salad a little on the sweet side so I usually add a little more honey.  You can adjust to your taste.

Tori's Hearty Chicken Soup

I'm not much of a soup person but decided to make this one cold rainy day.  I boiled a chicken in water and added salt, pepper and onion.  When the chicken was done, I strained the broth to get rid of the foam and bits of chicken.  Once cooled, I shredded the chicken lightly and cut up some carrots, celery and onion.  I added these to the stock in a large pot along with some frozen corn.  I seasoned the stock with salt, pepper, garlic salt and onion powder.  I added the chicken back into the pot and when it was just about done, I washed and added fresh spinach just because I like spinach.  I served this with warm bread and butter.  Delish!