Easy Chicken Ranch Pasta Salad

I'm sure you've seen the Suddenly Salad boxes in the grocery.  My friend Wanda made the bacon ranch one then added some shredded chicken and green onion.  That's it.  She served it with warm croissants and cherry tomatoes.  Brilliant, quick and DELISH!

Southwest Pasta

This is VERY similar to the chicken pasta a few posts ago, but I added to it and wanted to share the yumminess.

Ingredients

3 cups whole wheat farfalle (bow-tie pasta), uncooked

1 lb.  boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite-size pieces (or 1 lg. can of chicken)

3 slices  OSCAR MAYER Bacon, cooked, crumbled (or use Hormel pieces)

1 can  (14-1/2 oz.) Italian-style diced tomatoes, undrained

3/4 can black beans

1 can whole kernel corn, drained

4 oz.  (1/2 of 8-oz. pkg.) cream cheese, cubed

1/2 cup  water

1/4 tsp.  pepper

3 Tbsp.  KRAFT Grated Parmesan Cheese

COOK pasta as directed on package, omitting salt.
MEANWHILE, cook chicken in large skillet on medium heat 5 to 6 min. or until done, stirring occasionally. Add rest of ingredients; mix well. Cook 3 min. or until cream cheese is completely melted and mixture is well blended, stirring frequently.
DRAIN pasta; place in large bowl. Add sauce; mix lightly. Sprinkle with Parmesan.

Andrew didn't even get a chance to taste this one...Cliff and I had it for lunch on one of his rare days off of work.  It was gone before Andrew made it home from school. 

Chicken Chili

"That sounds GROSS," said Andrew.

Turns out, it's quite possibly going to be the winner of the upcoming chili cook-off that we're participating in next week.

Ingredients:2-13 oz. cans chicken
1 can white beans
1 can white beans with jalapenos
1 can kidney beans
15 oz. salsa
2-12 oz. cans chicken broth
1 tablespoon ground red pepper OR cumin

Mix together and heat.
Serve with tortilla chips.

The Real Scoop
by Andrew
You can use tortilla chips as a scoop for the chili, or you can crush them on top.  If you do that, they get mushy fast, though.  Just use them as a scoop.  Trust me.  This is very good chili even without the chips.

Chicken, Bacon & Tomato Pasta

What You Need

3 cups  whole wheat farfalle (bow-tie pasta), uncooked

1 lb.  boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite-size pieces

3 slices  OSCAR MAYER Bacon, cooked, crumbled

1 can  (14-1/2 oz.) Italian-style diced tomatoes, undrained

4 oz.  (1/2 of 8-oz. pkg.) PHILADELPHIA Neufchatel Cheese, cubed

1/2 cup  water

1/4 tsp.  pepper

3 Tbsp.  KRAFT Grated Parmesan Cheese

Make It

COOK pasta as directed on package, omitting salt.
MEANWHILE, cook chicken in large skillet on medium heat 5 to 6 min. or until done, stirring occasionally. Add next 5 ingredients; mix well. Cook 3 min. or until Neufchatel is completely melted and mixture is well blended, stirring frequently.
DRAIN pasta; place in large bowl. Add sauce; mix lightly. Sprinkle with Parmesan.

The Real Scoop 
by Andrew

The morning Mom made this for supper, I stayed home sick from school and had it for lunch.  It was SO YUMMY!

Even the tomatoes. 

Buffalo Chicken Wraps

Ingredients

• 1 Tablespoon Butter, Melted
• 1 pinch Freshly Ground Pepper
• 1 pinch Coarse Salt
• ½ cups Hot Pepper Sauce, Divided (I used Frank's)
• 1 pound Chicken Tenders
• ¼ cups Ranch Dressing
• 4 whole Large Jalapeno Cheddar Tortillas
• 4 slices Bacon, Cooked And Coarsely Chopped
• 2 whole Eggs, Hardboiled And Roughly Chopped
• 2 cups Shredded Romaine Lettuce
• 1 cup Shredded Cheddar Cheese
• 1 whole Roma Tomato, Diced 

Preparation Instructions

Combine the butter, cayenne pepper, black pepper, salt and 1/4 cup of the hot pepper sauce in a bowl. Whisk to combine. Add the chicken and toss to coat. Cover the bowl and marinate the chicken in the refrigerator for an hour or more.

Cook marinated chicken over medium-high, about 8 minutes total. Remove chicken from heat and roughly chop it.

In a small bowl, whisk the ranch dressing with 1/4 cup of the blue cheese crumbles. Or buy blue cheese dressing.

Heat up the tortillas in the oven or microwave and start crafting your wraps. Layer some chicken in the center of a tortilla, followed by bacon, eggs, romaine, tomatoes, blue cheese crumbles, cheddar, the dressing and a few more good dollops of hot pepper sauce.

Roll up the burrito and tuck in the corners. You can throw it on the grill if you want, or if you’re a ravenous freak, go ahead and slice it in half and demolish.

OMG.

I will be using the little bit of leftovers for in a lunch salad tomorrow.

The Real Scoop 
by Andrew

This was too spicy for me.  

I focused more on the side dishes - watermelon and Mom's awesome deviled eggs.

Wanda's Chicken Tamale Casserole

I had this recipe at friend Wanda's house last week and couldn't wait to make it for my next meal.

Ingredients:

• 2 small cans of chicken (or if you are ambitious like Wanda, boil and de-bone one small chicken, then cut the meat into small pieces
• 12 cut up corn tortillas
• 1 chopped medium onion
• 1 7 oz. can of green chilies
• 3 cans of undiluted cream of chicken soup
• 2 teasp. cumin
• dash of southwestern seasoning (like Ms. Dash's chipotle seasoning)

Mix all ingredients together and bake at 350 degrees for about 35 minutes. 
Top with shredded cheddar cheese and return to the oven till melted.

Serve with rice, beans, or salad.

The Real Scoop
by Andrew

This looked like a messy glob, but the taste was awesome!

The New Philly

I have two secret food obsessions; the first one is Slim Jims, and the second is cream cheese.  Imagine my excitement when I saw this in the grocery store:

The recipe:
Container of Philly Cooking Cream
1 lb. of chicken, cooked
1/2 lb. of spaghetti, cooked
Small bag of carrots, broccoli & cauliflower
Fresh Parmesan cheese
Mix all together and serve.

It wasn't too bad!
It reminds me a bit of Alfredo.
Try this one if you need something quick.

The Real Scoop
by Andrew
This wasn't one of my favorites.
It was a little dry & didn't have much flavor.
I would have rather had one of Mom's Slim Jims.

AWESOME Fried Chicken

This is how I normally make fried chicken:
Dredge chicken strips in egg then flour (mixed with a little salt & pepper). 
Deep fry till done.  NO MORE!

My NEW way:
Dredge in BUTTERMILK then flour (mixed with a little salt & pepper), repeat.   Deep fry.

The.
Best.
Fried.
Chicken.
Ever.

Now...
what do I do with the rest of this buttermilk?


I also made a honey mustard dipping sauce.  It's also very easy.
Honey Mustard
3/4 cup mayonnaise
3 tablespoons honey
2 tablespoons yellow mustard
1 tablespoon lemon juice or juice from 1/2 lemon

Combine all ingredients; stir well.

The Real Scoop 
by Andrew
"This is better than KFC!"

'Nuff said.

Two Thumbs Down

Two new recipes tonight for your dining pleasure, one from Cooks.com and one from Everyday Gourmet.

Of course, Mr. C. likes everything I ever make, God bless him, but Andrew and I opted for cereal.

In our opinion, the chicken had way too much tang, and the rice was spicy, but I think that was because I was out of Cayenne pepper and substituted red pepper.  Andrew and I agreed that we would be willing to try the rice again using the correct spices, but we'll pass on the chicken.

Recipe #1
MEDITERRANEAN LEMON PEPPER CHICKEN
4 chicken breasts
2 lemons
2-3 tablespoons olive oil
1 large sweet onion, finely chopped
4 cloves garlic, crushed
1 teaspoon lemon pepper
2 cups chicken broth or water
1 can chick-peas or garbanzos, drained
1 tablespoon fresh parsley, minced
1 tablespoon Wondra or flour (optional)

Cut lemons into 2 halves each. Rub chicken with one lemon half.

In a large Dutch oven, saute onion in olive oil until soft and golden colored.

Rub chicken with lemon pepper. Sear chicken on both sides in the onion and olive oil. Add garlic and saute for 1 more minute or until garlic is lightly colored. Add broth or water and drained chick-peas or garbanzos, the juice from the lemons and salt and pepper, to taste.

Bring to a boil, reduce heat, cover and simmer for about 40 minutes or just until chicken is tender (depends upon size of chicken breasts).

If a thicker sauce is desired, stir flour (or Wondra) into sauce during final 15 minutes of cooking. 10 minutes before serving, stir in parsley (save a pinch for garnishing). Taste and adjust seasoning adding salt and pepper to taste.

Serve chicken with chick-peas or garbanzos on the side; top with sauce and a sprinkle of parsley.
Leftovers can be refrigerated in the sauce and served the next day over pasta or rice or sprinkled with mozzarella and baked until cheese melts and chicken has reheated.
*My chicken looked like soup for quite a while, as you can see.

Recipe #2

 LOW COUNTRY PILAF
2 C long-grain white rice
2 C low-sodium beef stock
1½ C water
1 medium-sized
onion, minced
1 small red bell
pepper, minced
2 celery ribs, minced
3 cloves garlic,
minced
2 tsp dried oregano
2 tsp dried basil
¼ cayenne pepper
2 tbsp unsalted butter
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 tbsp minced parsley

In a medium-sized pot, heat olive oil and butter until hot. Add
onion, bell pepper, celery and garlic. Season the vegetables with
salt and pepper and sauté until they begin to soften, approximately 3
to 4 minutes.

Add rice, dried oregano, dried basil and cayenne pepper to the pot.
Season the rice with salt and pepper. Using a wooden spoon, mix
the ingredients until everything is fully incorporated. Continuing to
stir, allow the mixture to cook for one minute.

Add beef stock and water to the pot and allow it to come to the boil.
Cover pot and reduce heat to its lowest setting. Allow rice to cook on
low for 20 minutes. Do not uncover the pot during this time.

When 20 minutes have elapsed, uncover the pot and fluff the rice
with a fork. Taste and re-season if necessary. Mix in the parsley
and allow the pot to sit off the heat (covered) for 5 minutes before
serving.

The Real Scoop
by Andrew
This meal had no color.  Brown rice and brown chicken is not fun to look at.

It was too many flavors competing with each other on the same plate.

In the end, my bowl of Life cereal was good.

Fake-fried Chicken

3-4 pounds of chicken, cut up, skin removed
1 c. ranch dressing
2 cups instant potato flakes

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. 

Coat baking sheet with oil.

Lightly brush chicken with ranch dressing, then roll in the potato flakes.  Place on greased pan.

Turn down oven to 350 and bake for 25 min. or till juices run clear.

The verdict:
Not too bad, but there was a lot of mashed potato flakes left over.  The chicken was tender and almost melted in your mouth.  I should have put more oil on the pan, perhaps that would have made it more crispy.

In the future, I will just use Oven Fry...less waste, more crisp.

The Real Scoop
by Andrew
I couldn't really taste the ranch dressing, and I thought it would be crispy since it's supposed to be fried chicken.