Oriental Salad

The following 4 recipes are what I made for Isabella's birthday party.
The main dish was this.

3/4 bag of lettuce

1/2 to 3/4 bag of fresh, raw spinach

2 Tblsp. toasted sesame seeds (I omitted these)

2 oz. toasted slivered almonds (put on baking pan, bake at 350 for about 8 minutes to toast)

2 green onions, chopped

1 pkg. Oriental Ramen noodles

Dressing:

seasoning packet from Ramen

3 Tblsp. sugar

1/2 cup oil (canola, vegetable, or olive)

3 Tblsp. rice vinegar

1/2 tsp. pepper

1 tsp. salt

Mix salad ingredients except for noodles and almonds. Mix dressing items separately. Mix dressing and lettuce mixture together. Right before serving, stir in broken up Ramen noodles and slivered almonds.

This was the first time I have made this, and it was amazing! Will definitely make again. I had some leftover parmesan cheese mixture from the breadsticks posted below, and I also topped the salad with that. Yum! Monte said our house smelled just like The Olive Garden.

Spinich Penne Toss

2 cups uncooked penne pasta
1 medium sweet red pepper, chopped
1 medium onion, chopped
1 Tblsp. plus 1/4 cup olive oil, divided
1 pkg. (6 oz.) fresh baby spinich
3/4 cup crumbled, cooked bacon (I used real bacon bits instead)
1/2 cup shredded cheese
tomatoes, chopped
2 Tblsp. cider vinegar
1/4 tsp. pepper
1/8 tsp. salt

Cook pasta according to package. Saute red pepper and onion in 1 Tblsp. oil for 3 to 4 minutes or until tender. Drain pasta and place in a serving bowl. Add the red pepper mixture, spinich, bacon, cheese, and tomatoes. In a jar with tight fitting lid, combine vinegar, pepper, salt, and remaining oil; shake well. Drizzle over pasta mixture and toss to coat. 10 servings.

I made this last week at my parents, we all loved it. It was honestly the only thing I wanted to eat for days! It's very good for you too, I used some omega 3, multigrain pasta and made it even healthier. And I didn't get sick of it because I'm thinking about making it again soon. I wish I would've taken a picture, it even looks pretty! :)

Edit: I couldn't resist making it again! So I added a picture.