Mac n' Jack Salad

1 lb elbow macaroni
10 oz frozen corn, defrosted
1 red bell pepper, seeded & chopped
1 red onion, chopped
4 celery ribs, chopped
1 - 8 oz brick pepper jack cheese, diced
s/p
3 TB red wine vinegar
1/3 cup olive oil
1 1/2 cups tomatillo salsa (salsa verde) or chipotle salsa
chopped cilantro or parsley

1. Cook pasta until al dente. Drain & rinse with cold water to cool it down. Drain well.
2. While pasta cooks combine corn, red pepper, onion and celery in large bowl with cheese. Season with s/p.
3. Add cooled pasta to vegetable mixture.
4. Whisk together vinegar and oil. Stir in salsa. Pour over pasta & vegetables. Toss to coat evenly. Garnish with cilantro

This makes a lot and I think it was too much pasta, so unless you are making it for a large crowd or potluck or something, just use 1/2 lb or 3/4 lb of pasta. I also only used half a red onion and cut back the oil. Not a bad idea to make ahead and let it chill in the fridge.

Source: Rachael Ray's Book of 10, page 40

Chicken and Corn-Tomato Salad

I chose to make this recipe b/c it sounded healthy and advertised that it was "ready in minutes." I didn't expect much, but we really liked it!

1 1/4 lb boneless skinless chicken breasts
sliced scallions
minced garlic
2 pints halved cherry tomatoes
2 cups corn kernels
lime juice
cilantro
avocado wedges

1. Cook the chicken breasts in a large skillet. (I cut mine into bite-sized pieces instead of leaving whole).
2. Remove the chicken then add sliced scallions and minced garlic, stirring about a minute. Add 2 pints cherry tomatoes and corn kernels and cook a few more minutes. Season with S/P.
3. Serve the chicken on top of the salad with a squeeze of lime, cilantro and avocado wedges.

This was good, but not as quick as I imagined. I did not cook the cherry tomatoes, I just stirred them in at the end b/c I prefer them not to be mushy. Justin added some hot sauce and I served them with potato pancakes made from leftover funeral potatoes (yeah, as if funeral potatoes were not unhealthy enough I added eggs and pan fried them...)

Source: Parenting Magazine, October 2009, p.67

Crunchy Asian-style Pasta Salad

1 box Betty Crocker Suddenly Salad classic pasta mix
1 package oriental ramen
3 TB sugar
3 TB vegetable oil
2 TB white vinegar
2 TB water
1 TB soy sauce
3 cups cole slaw mix
1 cup snow pea pods, strings removed
1/2 cup sliced almonds, toasted
1 15 oz can mandarin orange slices, drained


1. Cook pasta from pasta mix (w/o the seasoning packet). Drain, rinse, set aside

2. In large bowl, stir together seasoning mixes from pasta salad mix and ramen, sugar, oil, vinegar, water & soy sauce. Add pasta, coleslaw mix, pea pods, almonds and oranges; toss to combine.

3. Just before serving, coarsely crush dry noodles from ramen package and stir into pasta mixture. Serve immediately or refrigerate



What I did: you could probably use a little less oil. I used snap peas instead of snow peas and left out the almonds. I also added some shredded chicken.



Source: http://www.bettycrocker.com/

Chicken Won-ton Salad

1/4 cup oil
4 tsp vinegar
4 TB sugar
1 tsp salt
2-3 chicken breast cooked and cubed or shredded
1/2 head of iceberg, chopped
1/2 head of romaine, chopped
10-15 fried won ton wrappers
1 can Water Chestnuts
1 bunch of green onion
chopped peanuts

1. To make the dressing, whisk together the oil, vinegar, sugar and salt.
2. Combine remaining ingredients in large bowl.
3. Pour dressing over and mix well, serve immediately after adding dressing.

What I did: Instead of frying the won ton wrappers, I sprayed them with Pam, and baked them on a cookie sheet at 350 until they were crispy. Just keep an eye on them b/c they will look fine one second and be burned the next. I also just used a bag of chopped romaine from the store and left out the water chestnuts.

Source: another yummy salad from Angela

Spinach-Pasta Caesar Salad

Salad:
3-4 grilled chicken breasts (marinated in Newmans Own Low-fat Sesame Ginger dressing)
1 lb pasta, cooked
6 oz bag fresh spinach
1 cup craisins
1/2 cup parmesan cheese
1 can artichoke hearts, drained

Combine for the dressing:
1/2 cup Newmans Own Low-fat Sesame Ginger dressing
1/2 cup Ken's Light & Creamy Caesar dressing

Chop the grilled chicken breasts before adding to the salad and you'll probably want to let your pasta cool after cooking it so it doesn't wilt the spinach. I used whole wheat rotini, but you could use bow-ties or penne, whatever kind of pasta.

We decided it needed something crunchy, so you could add croutons, bacon crumbles, or slivered almonds

Source: Angela made this probably about a year ago for a lunch... not sure why it took me so long to actually get the recipe from her. Thanks!