Appetizers

Broccoli Salad

This is an indispensable dish in our home. We enjoy this salad especially with simple steamed white rice. We like the medium grained variety of rice. Try it with this salad and you can be sure of a very satisfying and delicious meal. I owe this recipe to one of my sisters-in-law to whom I feel a debt of gratitude every time I prepare the salad. This is an unusual combination of ingredients that work together perfectly.

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Caponata

This wonderful Mediterranean dish probably has as many recipes as those who prepare it. Please use this recipe as a point of departure for you to add or subtract according to your taste. This dish is a mainstay Thanksgiving appetizer, served with boursin and London Townehouse crackers, really a scrumptious combination. Do try it!

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Cheese Log Par Excellence

What a wonderfully fresh taste this preparation offers! Simple ingredients for a simply delicious appetizer, or a wonderful sandwich option.

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Cheese Toasts

My husband's dad introduced me to this new way of grilling cheese on bread. The ingredients are straightforward. The process takes a little practice. Even if they don't come out looking just right the first time (or second or third ...), they'll be delicious. The cheese toasts are a wonderful accompaniment to soup. They would also work well with a simple tossed salad and a side dish of some kind of fruit.

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Cobb Salad

This is such a complete, yummy, salad in its vegetarian version. It makes an excellent summer meal, especially when fresh sweet corn is available. Consider adding grilled portabello mushrooms, cut into one-quarter or one-half inch strips. Or vegetarian bacon strips, perhaps 4 broken into large pieces (the Morningstar Farms brand is a great choice). The optionals and additions are well worth including!

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Cole Slaw

This is a staple side dish in our home. It's worlds away from the store-prepared kind, at least the ones I've tried, although I do remember trying one of those that I thought was quite good. I think it may be that freshness is very important. Sometimes cole slaw keeps well, and sometimes, it doesn't. I'm not quite sure what makes the difference. Anyway, you'll find it's quite easy to prepare and worth the not-so-great-effort required.

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Guacamole

It's very difficult for me to have Southwestern food without guacamole, possible, but difficult. I like this version of guacamole, stripped down to the bare essentials. Feel free to make additions to your preference, such as chopped tomato, green pepper, or onion.

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It's Not Chicken Salad

For a while after becoming a vegetarian, I missed chicken salad. Not anymore! Try this combination, and then alter it to your own preferences. Even without embellishments, this salad makes a wonderful sandwich. Here are a few ideas for excellent additions: diced ripe avocado, mashed ripe avocado with a sprinkle each of salt and lemon or lime as a vegan substitute for the mayonnaise, diced hardboiled egg, chopped roasted lightly salted almonds, raisins, about one quarter cup of left-over rice. However you make it, try this salad on whole wheat bread, toasted lighter or darker as ever you prefer, with a little mayonnaise on the toast and a good layer of your favorite sandwich lettuce. M-m-m-m-m-m-m-m-m-m. Or, simply have this as a plated salad with accompaniments such as an "in season" tomato, sliced or diced as you wish. My husband, who is not a vegetarian, enjoys this salad very much.

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Summer Squash Relish

This savory side dish is an excellent complement to grilled, roasted, or broiled portabella mushrooms. It could be used in a number of ways to enhance any number of dishes, even as a topping for crusty grilled bread. It's also another way to use the garden's bounty of zucchini and summer squash. The amounts listed here could be increased and less finely cut for a vegetable side dish.

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Thousand Island Dressing

Boiling the egg is what takes the most time, and the taste is worth every moment waiting for it to cook.

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