Chicken Taco Salad

We are not much of a salad family. I don't make many pasta salads or green leafy type salads. Usually our "salad" consists of a plate filled with raw carrots and a bowl of ranch dressing!

However, my favorite salad is my homemade chicken taco salad! When I make my Taco Bar night I always try to make more chicken taco meat than what we will need so that I can use it for a leftover lunch or two during the following days. I love the fact that making this salad I am using leftovers and it doesn't require much in the way of heating up! This salad tastes great cold or warm.

Chicken Taco Salad

3 boneless/skinless chicken breast, cooked & cubed

2 TBSP taco seasoning

1/4-1/3 cup mild taco sauce

Combine altogether. The taco sauce I use instead of water so that the chicken doesn't taste dried out.

To make the salad:

Layer the following on a plate:

• tortilla chips or crushed taco shells
• chicken meat
• shredded cheddar cheese
• shredded lettuce
• diced tomatoes
• Sour Cream or Ranch dressing(for the adventureous type)

Enjoy!

My kids love it when I stick each of the toppings into a bowl or plate for them to make my own salad bar on the counter for them to make their own salad. It gives them a bit more control of their plates when they fix them and not me. They seem to eat more and are less picky when they can make their own plates.

This post is linked at:

• Ultimate Recipe Swap at Life as Mom!
• Recipe Swap at The Grocery Cart Challenge
• Friday Feasts at Mom Trends!
  
• Food on Fridays at Ann Kroeker!
• Foodie Friday at Designs by Gollum!
• Family Recipe Fridays at Vanderbilt Wife!

BLT Pasta Salad

Summer is just beginning here in the Midwest which means that grilling and no oven meals are the "in thing" to do! One of my favorite no-oven meals are doing up pasta salads to have with grilled meat.

Last year at a wedding I had this type of salad and came home and wanted to tried it out with my crew but didn't have a recipe because I wasn't smart enough to ask the caterer at the wedding for the recipe! I took the time to look online to find something that resembled the salad and I found several so I combined a couple of recipes and came up this recipe that my crew just loves despite the fact that there is chunks of tomatoes in it!

It has become my go to pasta salad for picnics and get togethers because of how easy it is to make up. Here is what I came up with....

BLT PASTA SALAD

1 lb rotini pasta cooked, drained and cooled

1/4 cup Real Bacon bits

1/4 cup Miracle Whip Light

1/4 cup Ranch Salad Dressing

1 pint grape tomatoes, chopped

2-3 leaves of iceberg lettuce, chopped

I cooked, drained and cooled the rotini the night before along with adding in some of the bacon bits and some of the Miracle Whip and Ranch Dressing. Then the following day before I was going to serve it, I chopped the tomatoes, and lettuce. I added more Miracle Whip and Ranch Dressing and Bacon Bits and it was ready to serve!

You might have to play with the measurements for the salad because the only measurements that I know for sure is the rotini pasta and the grape tomatoes. The rest of the ingredients I just put in with the rotini and when it looked good I stopped adding them. I don't like pasta salads dripping with dressing so I made it where the dressing part of the salad was light---just enough to stick the ingredients together. Also, I used grape tomatoes instead of the "sandwich" size tomatoes so that I ended up with more tomato "meat" than tomato seeds.

One of these times that I make it, I will probably get some romaine lettuce or fresh spinach to use in place of the iceberg lettuce! So far the few times that I have made it, I have change things up with different shaped pasta including using tri-color rotini. Also I have used roma tomatoes as well, if you use any other tomatoes besides the grape ones you will want to de-seed the tomatoes! I didn't one of the times I have made it and regretted not doing so!

With this pasta salad you will want to make sure that it is eaten within a day or two after making it because the tomatoes really get mushy after the first 24 hours!

This salad would be a good compliment side with some grilled chicken or a nice juicy grilled burger or steaks for a nice simple summer meal!

This post is linked at:

• Ultimate Recipe Swap at Life as Mom!
  
• Recipe Swap at The Grocery Cart Challenge!
  
• Food on Fridays at Ann Kroeker!
  
• Fearless Fridays at Home Ec 101!
  
• Friday Feasts at Mom Trends!
  
• Foodie Friday at Designs by Gollum!

Holiday Salad

I love making this salad at Christmas time because it works for me!!  Like my appetizers,  it is simple to make when you are making things for a party.  It can be made the night before and there are no worries(other than you eating before the party!) that it won't still look yummy for the party!  It is one of those salads where you begin to wonder if it should be a dessert or a salad! Well there is fruit in it right!!?? AND there is milk! So it must be just a salad!

I love the taste of this salad!  To me it tastes like creamy carmel apples that are A LOT easier to eat!  This is a salad that is liked by all!!  Even my hubby who doesn't like eating "combination foods" will eat this salad!  Also using green and red apples makes it look soooo festive. 

**photo courtesy of Taste of Home

Apple Snicker Salad

4 Granny Smith Apples, cored & chopped
4 Red Delicious Apples, cored & chopped
6 Snicker bars(2.7oz), chopped
1 (12 ounces) Cool Whip
1 (6 oz pkg) Vanilla Pudding
2 1/2 cups milk

In a large bowl, whisk milk and pudding mix for 2 minutes. Let stand for 2 minutes or until soft-set. Fold in whipped topping. Fold in apples and candy bars. Refrigerate until serving. 

Notes: Using slightly frozen Snicker bars helps in the chopping of the bars! You can add more Snicker bars or more apples depending on how creamy you want it to be!  You can also make this without the pudding, by just chopping the apples, snicker bars and cool whip together!  In my opinion though it tastes better with the pudding!

For more works for me head over to Rocks in my Dryer!

Also if you are looking for more holiday salad recipes, head over to Parenting the Tiniest of Miracles for the next stop on the holiday bloggy progressive dinner!

Also head over to Happy to be at Home for Scrumptious Sunday Recipe Swap!

Kitchen Tip Tuesday---BLT Pasta Salad

I know that summer is almost over, so the pasta salads, no-oven meals are starting to become a thing of the past until next year when the heat is upon us again. However, I wanted to share this recipe with you that I made up by combining parts of other similar recipes.

I had this type of salad at a wedding about year ago and have been wanting to try it but just didn't have the nerve to with my picky eaters. So I decided to make it for a picnic that I was hosting a few weeks ago when I knew that I would have others around to help me enjoy it! However, my hubby and one son ate some as well! Yeah! So since I didn't ask the caterer at the wedding for the recipe, I took to looking online to find something that resembled the salad. Here is what I came up with....

1 lb rotini pasta cooked, drained and cooled

1/4 cup Real Bacon bits

1/4 cup Miracle Whip Light

1/4 cup Ranch Salad Dressing

1 pint grape tomatoes, chopped

2-3 leaves of iceberg lettuce, chopped

I cooked, drained and cooled the rotini the night before along with adding in some of the bacon bits and some of the Miracle Whip and Ranch Dressing. Then the following day before I was going to serve it, I chopped the tomatoes, and lettuce. I added more Miracle Whip and Ranch Dressing and Bacon Bits and it was ready to serve!

You might have to play with the measurements for the salad because the only measurements that I know for sure is the rotini pasta and the grape tomatoes. The rest of the ingredients I just put in with the rotini and when it looked good I stopped adding them. I don't like pasta salads dripping with dressing so I made it where the dressing part of the salad was light---just enough to stick the ingredients together. Also, I used grape tomatoes instead of the "sandwich" size tomatoes so that I ended up with more tomato "meat" than tomato seeds.

One of these times that I make it, I will probably get some romaine lettuce or fresh spinach to use in place of the iceberg lettuce! So far the few times that I have made it, I have change things up with different shaped pasta including using tri-color rotini. Also I have used roma tomatoes as well, if you use any other tomatoes besides the grape ones you will want to de-seed the tomatoes! I didn't one of the times I have made it since that picnic and regretted not doing so!

With this pasta salad you will want to make sure that it is eaten within a day or two after making it because the tomatoes really get mushy after the first 24 hours!

After the picnic that day, I sent some home with my parents and told them that they could do up some grilled chicken and have this salad for a nice simple summer meal!

For other kitchen tips, recipes or ideas, head over to Tammy's Recipes!

OR

Looking for more breads, pasta, or potato recipes, head over to Jen-Frugal Upstate's Frugal Food Series--breads, pastas, or potatoes.

Orginally posted July, 2008