I usually bring salads or crockpot dishes to potlucks. Salads are easy to transport in a ice chest and crockpots are great as long as you have somewhere to plug in the crockpot. Here are a couple of my favorite salads for potlucks that always get great reviews.
Broccoli Salad
Salad:
6 cups broccoli florets
½ cup dried cranberries
½ cup minced red onion
2 tablespoons sugar
¼ cup slivered almonds, toasted
4 strips of bacon, cooked crisp and crumbled
Dressing:
½ cup olive oil
¼ cup lemon juice
1½ teaspoons sugar
1 teaspoon stone ground mustard
¼ teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper
Cut large broccoli florets into bite-size pieces. Place all salad ingredients in a large bowl; set aside. Whisk together dressing ingredients in medium bowl and pour over salad. Toss well to coat all ingredients with dressing. Refrigerate until well chilled. Serves: 6 - 8
Spinach Salad with Sun-dried Tomatoes and Farfalle
Salad:
1 lb. farfalle (bowtie) pasta
1 bunch green onions
1 ¾ oz. sun-dried tomatoes, cut into strips
1 lb. spinach, stalks trimmed and leaves shredded
1/3 cup toasted pine nuts
Dressing:
½ - ¾ cup olive oil
2 tablespoons chopped chilies (Serrano or jalapeno)
2 cloves garlic, finely diced
Salt and pepper, to taste
Cook pasta in a large pan of rapidly boiling salted water until al dente. Drain, rinse under cold water and drain again. Allow to cool and transfer to a large salad bowl. Trim the green onions and finely slice diagonally. Add to pasta with the sun-dried tomato, spinach, and pine nuts. To make dressing, combine the oil, chilies, garlic, salt, and pepper, in a small screw top jar and shake well. Pour the dressing over the top of salad. Toss well and serve. Serves 6.