Bowtie Pasta Medley

Posted on April 16, 2011 by Momzoo

(I originally posted this recipe April 2009, it is by far my favorite salad recipe I make it all the time!)

The first salad in my series is a wonderful, filling pasta salad. I got this recipe from my Mom who got it from a friend of hers. I tasted it in February at a farewell party for my little brother, and I knew that I just had to get this recipe.

I has all sorts of random ingredients that come together into a most wonderful salad that is even good the next day.

Here are our cast of characters:

One box bow tie pasta

1 cup mayo

1 bottle Hidden Valley Coleslaw dressing

Salad Supreme

1 cup crasins

3 stalks celery

1 can Mandarin Oranges

1 can Pineapple Tidbits

two chicken breasts, cooked

and

I cup Cashews (yummy!)

Cashews are so wonderful I thought they deserved their own picture, they really make this salad special!

To your warm cooked pasta, add the bottle (yes the whole thing) and a cup of mayo.

Sprinkle a liberal amount of Salad Supreme seasoning on the dressings, put as much or as little as you like.

Mix it all up

(try not to eat it all at this point, but a bow tie or two won’t hurt….)

Put it in the refrigerator for several hours, the dressing will soak up into the past and cool everything down. This salad is meant to be eaten cold.

About an hour before serving, drain the pineapple and oranges. Put them in a colander and let them sit there for a little bit so all the juice will drain off.

While draining the fruit chop the chicken and celery.

Right before serving add all ingredients and toss.

Sprinkle a little Salad Supreme on top and enjoy!

This recipe makes a big huge bowl. The family ate it for dinner and later with lunches, it is even better the second (or third) day.

Yummy!

Broccoli Swiss Salad

Posted on March 23, 2010 by Momzoo

Our last, but definitely not least salad comes to us today from my neighbor and good friend

Jill

It was fun to try a salad that was a little different, being that is had no lettuce or pasta in it. My kids were a little dismayed when they spied a plate of broccoli, however they all ended up liking it. This recipe will definitely be making it into the regular summer meal rotation.

First things first, we need to make the dressing.

and here is our cast….

1 cup Mayo

1/2 cup Sugar

2 Tbsp Red Wine Vinegar

Put them all together in a bowl,

and whisk, refrigerate while preparing the rest of the salad

easy peasy…my kind of dressing!

For the body of the salad you are going to need:

1-2 head Broccoli

1 pound Grapes

1 pound Bacon, cooked

Swiss Cheese

Sunflower seeds

Simple, yummy and full of things that are good for you. I had some leftovers, which we ate the next day, and it was just as good!

I rather liked this salad, thanks Jill for sharing

Enjoy!

Italian Pasta Salad

Posted on March 22, 2010 by Momzoo

This old favorite comes to us today from my friend

Jessica

This is a summer time favorite of mine, I like to make a big batch and eat it for several days. This is a quick and easy lunch or side dish for dinner.

This post turned out to be a bit of a hybrid, I added somethings that I like to do with this particular type of salad along with some ingredients from Jessica that I hadn’t thought to add before. The end result was wonderful!

I make this salad in two fazes.

The first starts in the morning, I cook two big bags of spiral pasta, I am particular to the the colored variety, but any type will do.

The to the hot pasta I add Salad Supreme seasoning and a bottle of Italian dressing.

Give it a good mix and let it sit in the refrigerator for several hours, letting the spices and dressing soak into the pasta.

Right before I am ready to serve I add the other ingredients.
1 can Olives, sliced
Tomatoes, chopped
Cucumber, chopped
Pepperoni
Parmesan Cheese

Typically when I make this salad I only add the cucumber and tomatoes. The olives, cheese and pepperoni come from Jessica.

(unless the cucumber comes from my own garden I always peel it, cucumbers from the grocery store are covered with wax…humans aren’t meant to eat wax)

(after I added all the ingredients, I realized that my bowl was a big small for mixing!)

Add additional dressing according to taste, for a salad this big I typically add another bottle of dressing.

This salad will keep in the refrigerator for several days, and only gets better as times goes on.

I love the addition of pepperoni, olives and cheese in this salad, this will be a permanent addition to my Pasta Salad.

Pesto Pasta Salad

Posted on March 21, 2010 by Momzoo

**since I am making this meal tonight, I thought I would re-post the recipe, enjoy!**

Warning!

This is not a budget friendly meal

nor is it a

diet friendly meal!

However

it is

wickedly delicious!

Pesto Pasta Salad

2 pkgs bow-tie pasta

3 cups mayo

1 cup sour cream

4 pkgs Pesto Mix

8 Tbsp Olive oil

1/2 cup Parmesan Cheese

2 Chicken Breast

1 pkg cherry tomatoes

Cook your pasta

while is it cooking make your sauce

Start with the mayo

ANYTHING that has 3 cups of mayo in it has to be good!

Then the sour cream

Put in your packages of Pesto Mix

I love Pesto

I want to marry it,

(not really.)

Stir it all up really well

so it is creamy and green

Then you add the Olive Oil

use the extra virgin kind

it has a better taste,

don’t skimp with the Olive Oil!

Then in goes the 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese

you can use the pre-grated kind, it tastes the same

I am just GLUTTON for punishment,

I like to do things the hard way and grate my own cheese

Stir it all together, it will be creamy and green

and a little lumpy because of the cheese

I could seriously just eat this sauce!

Pour it over the HOT pasta

it needs to be hot so the mayo, sour cream and cheese melt into it

Cut up your tomatoes into wedges.

If I can find the really little grape tomatoes in the grocery store I use those then I don’t feel the need to cut them up.

Stir them into the warm pasta

Doesn’t the RED look so pretty in the GREEN pasta

Chop your chicken

Hey Chicken!

I think I have seen you here before!

I use two chicken breasts when I am making this for dinner, but when I make this salad as a side I don’t add chicken at all, this salad is expensive enough!

Dump Mr. Chicken breast in

(or would that be MRS Chicken Breast

Do boy chickens have breasts?

I will have to research that… )

Stir it all up and stick it in the refrigerator.

You could serve this salad hot, warm or cold

I like it warmish, it think when it sits a little it helps all the flavors mesh

and it is really good the next day cold.

When I serve it I like to sprinkle a little more cheese on top.

(Dadzoo was very stingy at dinner tonight

he didn’t want the kids to eat too much

he wanted some for lunch the next day!)

This is really yummy

one of my favorites

also Dadzoo’s favorite

and my baby sister Lindi’s favorite.

Enjoy!!!!

BBQ Chicken Salad

Posted on March 20, 2010 by Momzoo

I was very excited to try

Becky’s

BBQ Chicken Salad,

seriously, a dressing made with BBQ sauce and Ranch Dressing! How can that NOT be GOOD!

Here is our cast of characters:

Ranch Dressing

BBQ Sauce

Grilled Chicken

Romain Lettuce

Tomatoes, diced

Cilantro, chopped

1 can Black Beans, drained

1 can Corn, drained

(oops, forgot that for the picture)

Green Onions

Shredded Cheese

Tortilla Strips

Here is what Becky said:

“Now, there are different ways you can have this. In the past, we would mix all the fresh ingredients and then pour the ranch on top, then drizzled with BBQ sauce. My husband prefers to marinate the cooked chicken in the BBQ sauce all day and serve it that way. I also like to mix the ranch dressing and the BBQ sauce together for a Ranch/BBQ dressing. Whatever the way, it is SOOOO good! “

I chose to mix the Ranch dressing and BBQ sauce, then marinate the cooked chicken in the sauce. That alone was wonderful. If you were to shred the chicken and mix it with the sauce, you would have a wonderful filling for a chicken sandwich.