Saturday, May 28, 2011

Pasta Salad



We went on a picnic a few weeks ago at one of the many beautiful waterfalls here in Colorado. And I didn't want to just pack the usual sandwiches so I suggested pasta salad and that sounded like a good idea to everyone. I wanted to make something that I had all the ingredients on hand so this is what I came up with it. It is easy and good for summer dinner. Serve with some crusty bread.

I would say this serves about 6. This would be easy to double to make for a crowd also.


Ingredients
8 oz. uncooked pasta (I used small shells)
1 cup cooked cubed boneless chicken breast (I used 1 large breast)
3/4 cup cubed cheddar cheese
1/2 cup peas
1/2 cup carrot - shredded or julienned (either work and taste good)
1 1/2 cups Ranch dressing*

Directions
Cook the pasta until done to desired tenderness and drain well. Cool completely. Toss with chicken, cheese, peas, carrots and dressing. Chill for an hour before serving.

*Ingredient Tips
* Start with 1 cup of Ranch dressing and then taste and keep going until you are happy with the consistency and taste. Also if you let it set over night sometimes the dressing can soak in so might need to add more the next day if you have left overs. I wouldn't make this salad the day before - unless just prepping all the ingredients and then tossing together an hour or 2 before serving.

* I used frozen peas and just ran a little water over the peas to thaw them.

* Left over chicken would be good for this - I used left over grilled chicken.

5 comments:

  1. Wow!! That looks good. Awhile ago, Kraft had this same kinda of thing in a box.

    ReplyDelete
  2. This sounds so yummy. I wonder if Sir would like it ... hmmm if I added bacon he probably would!!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Thank you SH! Probably Suddenly Salad thing from Kraft. I haven't ever used those because usually I have all the ingredients to make a pasta salad in my pantry. They are so easy to make!

    Rheya, I so wanted to sprinkle bacon on the top but I didn't have any! I am sure it would be great that way. I mean everything is better with bacon right? lol :)

    ReplyDelete
  4. danae -

    LOL! That's what Sir says at least... I didn't look at the salad dressing he picked out last time we went to the store and last night at dinner I noticed it was BACON CATALINA.

    ReplyDelete
  5. This sounds really good. Do you think it would work as well with an Italian dressing?

    ReplyDelete

LinkWithin

Related Posts Widget for Blogs by LinkWithin