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We had a barbecue awhile back and it included a lot of meat!  We really needed to balance out the meal with some carbs and veggies and this was the perfect dish for it – Potato and Green Bean Salad.  It didn’t take long to make and the crisp beans with the cooked potatoes provided great texture.  I served this warm but it can easily be served cold, perfect for taking along to a potluck.

Potato and Green Bean Salad

2 large potatoes
1 pound green beans
2 green onions
1/2 cup mayonaise
2 TB grainy mustard
2 tsp red wine vinegar
Salt
Pepper

Boil the potatoes until fork tender.  Blanch the green beans for one minute and immediately place in some ice water.  Combine the mayo, mustard and vinegar and season well.  Add the potatoes, green beans and onions until well coated with the dressing.

It was a fun ten days in Calgary celebrating 100 years of the Stampede.  Everyone knows that when you go to the grounds, you have to try some of the delicious fatty foods that are everywhere you look!  Here are some snapshots of what my friends and I sampled.  I was so excited to find a place that did corn dogs made without pork.  Yahoo!!

It was another crazy weekend but hubby and I managed to squeeze in some time to do some shopping for some work boots for me, for my day job (one of them anyway).  These were the girliest ones I could find without actually buying pink!  I never guessed I would ever need these!

We were both hungry and decided to go for a quick bite. I was wanting some really good salmon and hubby knew just the place – Towa Sushi.

I had been to Towa a couple of times but not for years.  After our experience, I am kicking myself for not going back sooner.  It was so good!

We arrived around 6pm on a Sunday night and it was packed!  
We waited a few minutes before we got seated and ended up at a counter at the window.

Because all I really wanted was salmon, we ordered 3 rolls packed with it.  The first was the Tempura Spicy Salmon Roll.  I loved this roll, in fact, I think it was my favourite of the night.  The salmon was so fresh and there was lots stuffed into the roll.  I liked that the outside had the tempura coating, providing that perfect crunchy texture in contrast to that of the salmon. So good!

We also had just the plain old Spicy Salmon roll and that was delicious as well.  Although the prices for the sushi were on the higher end, you could taste why with every bite.

Our last roll was the Towa Special Roll.  This consisted of salmon, red tuna and white tuna.  This was also stuffed generously with the fish.  The quality of the salmon and tuna was exceptional.

I thoroughly enjoyed my meal at Towa, so satisfying.  I will definitely be back for more.

This is another recipe that I will be submitting for the Hidden Valley Ranch Recipe Challenge.  With it being bbq season, I had to do something that I could just throw on the grill.  My first attempt with these were with regular Ranch dressing but hubby thought the spice of the Spicy Ranch would be the perfect kick.  He was right!  The heat was just enough, not overpowering at all, and even Q was able to eat it.  Out of all the recipes that I had come up with, this was unanimously the favourite amongst my family and friends.  Hope it’s a winner!

Spicy Ranch Shrimp Kebabs

1 pound shrimp, chopped
1/4 cup spicy ranch dressing
1 TB garlic
1/2 red pepper, diced
1/2 onion, diced OR 2 green onions, chopped
1 1/2 cups panko

Mix together shrimp with all the ingredients.  Shape into kebabs using the end of a wooden spoon.  Place on a grill until the shrimp are cooked.

Here is one of the recipes that I will be submitting for the Hidden Valley Ranch Recipe Challenge.  I had loads of cherry tomatoes in the fridge and wanted to incorporate them somehow with ground turkey.   I love the idea of stuffed anything, it’s just such a great surprise for the person enjoying the food.  I added the regular ranch dressing to the meatballs and it added a creaminess to the meat that you can’t get with soaked bread or milk.  This was a favourite amongst most of my taste testers.  I would love to know what you think!

Cherry Tomato Ranch Meatballs

1 pound ground turkey
1 tsp garlic
1 tsp ginger
1/2 tsp coriander powder
1/2 tsp cumin powder
1/4 cup ranch dressing
bunch cilantro, chopped
salt
pepper
12 cherry tomatoes

Mix together the turkey and spices until well combined.  Divide the meat into 12 balls and shape them around the tomatoes.  Place on a greased pan and bake at 350 degrees for 40 minutes.