Okay, I’m just gonna say it—celery has been done dirty for years. It’s either shoved under a scoop of chicken salad or limping around a crudité tray with dried-out edges and a sad little ramekin of ranch. Poor thing never stood a chance. But let me tell you something: this salad changed the way I look at celery. Try our Southern-Style Green Beans next. I first had a version of it at a potluck my neighbor Karen hosted. You know the one—she brings something that looks suspiciously plain, and then you taste it and suddenly you’re going back for thirds …
I don’t know what it is about this dish, but it always brings me back to the screen door slamming behind me and the smell of bacon drifting out of the kitchen before I even hit the porch steps. My mom only made warm German potato salad a few times a year — always when we had family visiting, always in her biggest enamel pan, and always always with a wooden spoon (never metal, she swore it made the potatoes taste tinny). Try our Sheet Pan Scored Potatoes next. It wasn’t picnic food. It was real food. You served it …
I’ll never forget the summer my Aunt Linda brought this “salad” to our family reunion. It showed up in a big glass bowl, topped with sliced strawberries and a golden brown crumble that shimmered like it knew it was about to be famous. I took one bite — just to be polite — and found myself circling back to the buffet line three times like a raccoon at a campfire. Try our Pineapple Pretzel Salad next. Let’s be honest: this isn’t really a salad. It’s more of a deconstructed cheesecake with a salty-sweet crunch that could make even the grumpiest …
I’m gonna be honest with you—this salad isn’t fancy. It won’t win any Michelin stars. Heck, it barely qualifies as a “salad” if you ask the lettuce purists. But you know what? It’s the first thing gone at every cookout. Try our Mexican Ground Beef Casserole next. I first tasted this little bowl of joy at a Fourth of July potluck years ago. My friend Karen brought it in a big ol’ Tupperware and said, “Try this, you’ll thank me later.” I did. I did thank her. Then I asked for the recipe, made it the next weekend, and now …
Let me tell you, the first time I made this Layered Dublin Salad, it wasn’t even for a holiday—it was a random Tuesday, I think. I’d stumbled on an old Irish cookbook at a flea market (you know the kind, soft pages, no pictures, just honest food), and tucked in the corner was a scribbled version of this beauty. Now, I’m not saying it changed my life… but it sure made that week’s leftovers a lot more exciting. Try our Fancy Italian Salad next. It’s crisp, colorful, and hearty, but not fussy. It’s got those old-fashioned Midwestern vibes—like the layered …
There are certain recipes that don’t really belong to anyone, though we all like to pretend otherwise. This Shoepeg Salad (or “shoe peg”—I’ve written it both ways, not sure which is proper) is one of those dishes that just floated through my life without much explanation. I can’t say who made it first. My mother swore it came from her neighbor back in Tulsa, but then my sister insists she saw it on a church potluck table in Mississippi in the late seventies. And me? I just know it showed up one afternoon in a Tupperware bowl on my back …
Some dishes don’t just fill your belly — they fill your heart. This creamy seafood salad, made with good ol’ imitation crab, takes me straight back to Sunday potlucks at the church hall and lazy lake days with family when no one was in a rush to be anywhere. Try our Southern-Style Creamy Seafood Salad with Imitation Crab — My Shortcut to a Coastal Craving next. If you grew up in the Midwest like I did, you know we have our own way of bringing the coast inland. We may not have oceanfront views, but we sure know how to …
Let me tell you something. The first time I made this Moroccan Beet Salad, it was a chilly Tuesday in March, and I was aching for color. Not just on my plate, but in my day. I stood in my kitchen with the windows cracked open just a bit — enough to catch a whiff of the neighbor’s firewood, enough to remind me that spring wasn’t quite here yet. Try our Oven Baked 4-Ingredients Hash Brown Pie next. But then I grated those beets — that deep, ruby-red hue practically sang out, and suddenly I was transported. Not to my …
You know how every summer barbecue has that table — the one with the cold salads, big bowls of pasta, and a plate of deviled eggs disappearing faster than the burgers? That’s basically my childhood. There was always somebody’s “famous” pasta salad and someone else’s “you have to try them” deviled eggs. And one day, I thought… why not just put them together? Try our Dolly Parton's Macaroni Salad next. That’s how this “Eggcellent Pasta Delight” happened. Honestly, it’s just deviled egg flavors and pasta hanging out in the same bowl, and somehow it tastes like it’s always been a …
Seafood wasn’t a regular guest at our table growing up in the Midwest. We were more of a meatloaf and mashed potatoes family. But every once in a while, Mama would surprise us — a little shrimp cocktail at Christmas, maybe a can of crab meat mixed into something “fancy” for Sunday lunch. And just like that, our dining room felt like it had drifted a few hundred miles closer to the ocean. Try our Oven Baked Vintage Beef and Celery Bake next. This salad? It scratches that same itch for me now, only without the wait for a holiday. …
