Tropical Fusion Salad with Spicy Tortilla Ribbons

This is from the Taste of Home magazine.
Prep/total time: 30 min
Yield: 4 servings
2 c. cubed, peeled papaya (I used clamshell mangos from Costco. I'm not a huge papaya fan).
1 can (15 oz.) black beans, rinsed and drained
1 medium ripe avocado
1 c. frozen corn, thawed
1/2 c. golden raisins
2 serrano peppers, seeded and chopped (I only seeded one, and it really wasn't that hot.)
1/4 c. chopped cilantro
1/4 c. orange juice
2 T. lime juice
1 T. cider vinegar
2 garlic cloves, minced (I put them through a press)
2 tsp. ground ancho chili pepper, divided (I couldn't find this at Vons, but I did find New Mexican chili powder).
1/4 tsp. sugar
1/4 tsp. salt
2 corn tortillas (6 in.) cut into 1/4 in strips

1. In a large bowl combine the papaya, beans, avocado, corn, raisins, peppers, cilantro, orange juice, lime juice, vinegar, garlic, 1/2 tsp. of chili pepper, sugar, and salt

2. Place tortilla strips on a baking sheet coated with cooking spray; sprinkle with remaining chili pepper. Bake @ 350 for 8-10 min or until crisp. Serve with salad

Notes: I added 8 oz. of the Costco rotisserie chicken shredded. Make sure you get your tortilla strips really crispy. I would aim for 1/8" strips as opposed to 1/4" ones. I think a little shallot or onion would really make the dressing sing. I'll be trying an orange lime vinaigrette the next time I make this.

Nutrition facts: 1 1/4 cups salad w/about 10 tortilla strips equals 321 cals, 8 g fat (1 g sat), 0 cholesterol, 380 mg sodium, 58 g carbs, 11 g fiber, 9 g protein.

Cinnamon Twists Reviewed

I had my eye on these bad boys from the very beginning...

Overall, making these was a harrowing experience! I think this was largely in part due to human error, and not the recipe itself. :/ I was rushing and didn't realize that there were some extra steps in making the dough that I hadn't taken into account yet. (Basically it's not a "dump it all in the bowl and mix it up" type of dough. But bread-making is rarely that quick n' easy... shame on me for not planning ahead.)

Then, at one point I had to bring the buttermilk to a boil. Shame on me AGAIN, I walked away from the pan and it boiled over. ALL OVER. So I had this to deal with:

I threw it out, washed the pan, and started to heat up a new batch on a different burner. Wouldn't ya know it, that #@!&!?@!!$!*! buttermilk boiled over a second time!!! Note to all who read this: buttermilk comes to a boil awfully fast. And I'm a dork in the kitchen. Enough said.

Another bit of grumpiness I encountered was that this recipe required a "Hot Roll Mix." This was a big batch of dry ingredients that you only need a small portion of for the actual recipe. Then you have to save the rest for another time, or another recipe from the same "Hot Roll Mix" family. I was bummed that I had soooooooo much leftover and wasn't sure when/if I could use it again. Maybe Jeri could post some more things on here to make using it? (I even cut the amounts in half and I STILL had a ton of Hot Roll Mix left.)

However!!!!!

All of my grumpiness was experienced BEFORE the cinnamon twists were done. Once I ate one (or was it 17? I lost count...) all complaints should be erased from the record books. They were HEAVEN. Very different from a regular cinnamon roll. I don't know how they do it, but this dough comes out very Krispy Kreme-ish, so light and melt-in-your-mouth just like cotton candy. Wowsers. I will have NO problem using up that leftover Hot Roll Mix. I will be making these again -- SOON.

Here's the total amount the recipe made, just so you can see. (But imagine 2 more twists in the picture. I ate them before I remembered to grab my camera! HA!)

Thank you Jeri - we are bringing these to hang out with friends tonight and they are going to be awesome!