Tri-Tip Salad Recipe

See the post Slow Cooker Tri-Tip Recipe for the meat recipe. With every great recipe comes the chance for great leftover recipes. This is how I made a great salad from the leftovers.

• Slow Cooked Tri-Tip
• Lettuce (your choice of type, We use anything but Iceberg)
• Medium or Sharp Cheddar Cheese (I recommend Tillamook)
• Red Onion (1/2 onion)
• Sour Cream
• Salsa

Chop the cheese into small cubes. Chop the onions into small chunks. Reheat the tri-tip. Spread the lettuce on a plate, and add all the ingredients in order of preference. I like to toss the salad with everything but the tri-tip, and then add the meat to the top once it is thoroughly mixed. Add the sour cream and salsa and you are good to go.

This works well with a low-carb diet.

Slow Cooker Tri-Tip Recipe

• (1) Tri-Tip steak (trimmed)
• (1) Jar of your favorite salsa (Safeway Select "Garlic Lover's" Salsa works great)
• (1) large can Sun Vista Pinto Beans
• Cayenne Pepper (to taste)
• Garlic Powder (to taste)
• Chili Powder (to taste)
• Salt and Black Pepper (to taste)

If you want to make burritos or tacos with the meat, add the following to your shopping list:

• Medium to Sharp Cheddar Cheese
• Sour Cream
• Flour Tortillas
• Hot sauce/salsa of choice

If your tri-tip isn't trimmed, then start by trimming some of the fat off. Next add some garlic powder, salt and black pepper (to taste). Put tri-tip in slow cooker. Add the jar of salsa. Drain the can of pinto beans, and add to the slow cooker.

Set the slow cooker to low, and cook for 9 hours.

Once the tri-tip is cooked, add the cayenne pepper, more garlic powder, chili powder, and more salt or black pepper, to taste.

Now that the meat is done, throw it into some flour tortillas with sour cream, cheese and salsa, and you have yourself a fantastic burrito.

I am particularly fond of this one, so be sure to tell me how you like it.

Macaroni Salad - Surfer J's Family Recipe

• Salad Macaroni - (1) 16oz. bag
• Del Monte Sweet Pickles - (1) 12oz. jar (you may need the juice, so don't dump it)
• Cheddar Cheese (Medium or Sharp) - About 2 cups cubed
• Hard Boiled Eggs - (6)
• Red Onion - Whole
• Black Olives - (1) can Whole, (1) can Sliced
• Mayonnaise - Amount Varies (usually 2.5-3 cups)
• Paprika - (mostly for presentation)
• Optional Ingredients - Salt or Black Pepper (to taste)

This is an old family recipe, one that has been around over 50 years. I am not a fan of Italian noodles, so if I like it, you can bet it tastes great.

Boil the eggs and noodles (in separate pots of course). The longer you cook the noodles, the less they will "drink" the mayo. (There is a fine line between cooking longer and cooking too long, so use your best judgment here). Chop the pickles into small chunks. Do not discard the pickle juice. Cube the cheese. Chop the onions into small chunks. The onions and pickles should be roughly the same size, but it is up to you. My family loves onions, so we make the chunks large.

Set aside 2 of the hard boiled eggs. They will be used as decoration/presentation. Chop the other 4 eggs with yolk into small chunks.

Once you have everything boiled and chopped, it is time to mix it up. Put the macaroni, onions, pickles, cheese, chopped eggs, and sliced olives into a large mixing bowl. Add the Mayonnaise. You want it to be creamy. Note: The noodles will soak up a substantial amount of mayo. You need to allow for this. Don't be afraid of too much mayo.

Once you have mixed the mayo in, take a taste test. Does it need salt? Does it need some pickle juice for added sweetness? Does it need more mayo? At this point, it is really up to you how you like it. Adjust the ingredients as necessary. Remember this will need to refrigerate for a while, so it won't taste quite right while it is still warm.

Once you have it ready to go, it is time to spruce it up a bit. Black olives, 2 hard boiled eggs, and Paprika are the ingredients. Slice the eggs in half length-wise. Open the can of whole Black Olives. Place the yolks on top of the salad. Slice the rest of the whites lengthwise. Place the sliced egg whites around the yolk in a flower shape. Fill any gaps with the whole olives. Sprinkle the Paprika to give it some color, and you are done.

As you can see, the hardest part of this salad is the decoration. Enjoy. Be sure to let me know how it goes.