Festive Red, Green, and Bacon Spirals and Homemade Ranch Dressing Powder

I was looking for an easy and festive appetizer to bring to a Christmas party and came across The Pioneer Woman’s Holiday Roll-ups (http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ree-drummond/holiday-roll-ups.html). Basically you mix ranch dressing powder with cream cheese, spread it on tortillas, scatter some red and green bell pepper and green onion on it, roll it up, and cut into cute little slices. I thought it was a great recipe, but jazzed it up a bit with the addition of bacon and also making my own ranch dressing powder instead of buying the packet (thanks to Simply Scratch (http://www.simplyscratch.com/2014/05/homemade-ranch-dressing-mix.html ) for the inspiration!!). So ultimately, I made the recipe way more complicated…but oh well. It’s worth it!

Ingredients

2 8oz packages of Neufchatel, softened

1 packet ranch dressing mix or 1 recipe of Homemade Ranch Dressing Powder (see below)

A few grinds of black pepper

9-10 tortillas

1.5 green bell peppers, finely diced

1.5 red bell peppers, finely diced

4 green onions, finely sliced

12 pieces of bacon, fried and chopped

To make ranch powder, combine:

1 packet (3T) of dry buttermilk

1/2 T dried parsley

1/2 t dried dill

1/2 t granulated garlic

1/2 t granulated onion

1/2 t Kosher salt

1/4 t sugar

Dash ground black pepper

Dash paprika

1.       Mix the ranch powder and black pepper with the Neufchatel. You can microwave the cream cheese if needed, or just leave it out on the counter for a few hours to soften.

2.       Prepare the vegetables and bacon.

3.       Prepare the tortillas by cutting a small slice off two opposite sides of the tortilla. Those will be the ends of the roll, and save you the trouble of having a weird unsightly end piece.

4.       Spread the cheese mixture on the tortillas, taking care to cover the entire surface. You don’t need a half inch thickness of it—keep in mind that you are rolling it up, so you’re going to get more in one bite than just the thickness you’re spreading on it any given spot.

5.       Sprinkle the vegetables and bacon on top of the spread. Leave one curved side relatively free of toppings to facilitate good sealing when you roll it up.

6.       Roll up the tortilla toward the topping-free side, taking care to go slowly and pack the roll tightly so it doesn’t fall apart. About halfway through rolling, daub some cream cheese along the roll to help create a tighter seal.

7.       Using a very sharp knife, cut the roll into 2-inch thick slices. Arrange cut side up on a tray and enjoy!

Lettuce Wraps

These wraps are AMAZING! Thanks to Jaden Hair for the inspirational recipe. If you have the resources, I highly suggest the Craftsy Wrap and Roll course from her. These are like tacos, except: you don’t have 100 calorie tortillas with each serving; you can’t fit that much onto a lettuce leaf; almost everything involved is a vegetable. The end result being that you and a partner can eat this entire recipe without feeling guilty in the least. Seriously. You will try to eat two or three wraps and then be confused about why you are still hungry. Stop being confused and eat it until it’s gone. Yum!

 

1 lb ground pork

2 cloves of garlic, minced

½ onion, diced

1 apple, diced – reserve into halves (one to be cooked, one raw)

1 T fish sauce

1 T soy sauce

1 T lime juice (or juice of half a lime if you’re fresh)

1 bell pepper, diced

3 green onions, sliced

Fried onions, like French’s

1 head butter or Boston lettuce

Banana peppers, mild, sliced

1. Put some oil into a pan and cook the ground pork (or chicken, beef, whatever). Push it to the side.

2. Add a bit more oil and fry the onions and garlic for a minute or two. Push to the side.

3. Fry up the half apple and bell pepper. Doesn't take long--about two minutes. You just want them to soften.

4. Mix all together and stir in the fish sauce, soy, and lime juice. Turn off the heat.

5. Prepare Pow Pow sauce. (Be aware it will sizzle when you pour the oil into the ingredients.)

6. Prepare lettuce by cutting out the root (use a sharp knife and cut around the root in a cone shape--the leaves just fall off) and washing the leaves.

7. Assemble each lettuce wrap by placing the following on a leaf of lettuce: pork mixture, raw apple, green onion, fried onion, banana pepper, and a spoonful of Pow Pow sauce. Enjoy your face off!!!!

Pow Pow sauce

1 green onion, minced

1 clove garlic, minced

1 pinch salt

2 tsp ginger, minced

1/4c oil

1 T soy sauce

1 T rice vinegar

½ T sesame oil

1. Put the onion, garlic, ginger, and salt into a heat-proof bowl. I used my Pyrex liquid measuring cup.

2. Heat the ¼c oil until it is shimmering. Sometimes it is hard to tell--a good way is to add a few more drops of oil into the pot. You should see the new oil's texture looks a bit different because it is cooler than the oil in the pot. Usually takes me 3-4 minutes over medium heat.

3. Pour the oil into the bowl. (This will definitely make a sizzling sound!)

4. Add the soy, vinegar, and sesame.(Do not do this before adding the oil, or the water will create more of a popping reaction with the hot oil.)

Best Salad Ever

Not kidding. This is the best salad ever. I would waste digital text explaining why…but really, the text will not do it justice. This is The Best. Yum.

 

Spring mix or baby lettuce blend

Blue cheese

Banana peppers, sliced (mild)

Green onions, sliced

2 slices bacon, fried and chopped (per salad)

Butter toffee pecans, chopped

Colorful bell peppers, diced

Fried onions (like French’s)

Cucumber, sliced

Apple, sliced (any kind is great!)

Dressing—Italian and Balsamic are both excellent

1.       Fry bacon.

2.       Chop up stuff.

3.       Put stuff on healthy sized bed of lettuce.

4.       Apply dressing and enjoy!