Lemony Asparagus Pasta Salad

I found this recipe, originally named Asparagus and Arugula Pasta Salad on Gimme Some Oven. I had never had asparagus in a cold pasta dish, so that intrigued me. But when I went to make it, I had a flash of inspiration on how to change it and make it better. It’s simpler, and this is another out-of-this-world fantastic recipes now.

I nixed the arugula and basil, increased the feta cheese, and added in sautéed chicken breast. I used mini penne pasta instead of the fusilli because I liked how the mini penne would be around the same size as the cut asparagus. And I made a slightly different dressing for it. The result is a light tasting pasta salad that is delightful on a warm summer day.

So, let’s get cooking!

Set a large pot of water to boil for the pasta. Cook until al dente, then drain and rinse well with cold water.

Sauté the chicken breasts in a skillet with a little oil. I quickly sliced the breasts into thirds to reduce the cooking time. When cooked through and cooled, dice into smallish chunks.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch….trim the ends off the asparagus and slice diagonally into pieces about 1 ½  inches long. Using a steamer basket in a covered saucepan, steam for about 4 minutes, then drain and cool off with cold water.

In a large bowl, place the pasta, chicken, and asparagus.

To make the dressing, just whisk together the lemon juice, oil, sugar, salt, and pepper.

Pour over the ingredients in the bowl and toss together well. Add the feta cheese.

And…voilá! A delicious pasta salad with a light fresh taste that’s a perfect meal in itself.

Enjoy! ~TMMF

Lemony Asparagus Pasta Salad

1 lb mini penne pasta
2-3 chicken breasts
1 lb fresh asparagus
1 c feta cheese
1/2 c lemon juice
1/4 c oil
1 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 tsp pepper

Fiesta Ranch Chicken Pasta Salad

I love pasta salads, and I’ve tried many that are so good I eat them for breakfast. But this one is the absolute tippity-toppest of them all. Oh. My. Tongue. It disappeared too quickly, and I can’t wait to make more. We ate it for breakfast and lunch the next day.

This recipe came from Butter With a Side of Bread, and I didn’t change a heck of a lot with it. The original recipe had a can of kidney beans and a can of olives in it, both of which I didn’t use. I felt the can of black beans was plenty, and the olives would have been great, but I didn’t have any. I amped up the flavor and zip with a teaspoon of chili powder. I also discovered, after eating it, that this would have been just as great without the chicken in it, so that’s an option for me in the future. The black beans gave enough protein by themselves. I know you’ll like this one as much as my family did.

So, let’s get cooking!

Set a large pot of water to boil for your pasta. I used a fusilli for this, also known as rotini. Cook until al dente, drain, and rinse well with cold water to stop the cooking process.

In a skillet with a little oil, sauté the chicken breast. When done and cooled, cube into small pieces.

Grate the sharp cheddar cheese and set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, place the drained, cooled pasta, tomatoes, onions, peppers, cubed chicken, corn, and black beans.

For the dressing mixture, in a medium bowl, use a whisk to mix together the mayonnaise, milk, Hidden Valley Fiesta Dip mix, taco seasoning, and chili powder.

Add the cheddar cheese and dressing mixture and blend well. The original recipe added Fritos to the pasta salad, but I couldn't imagine adding something so crunchy to this. Add it if you'd like. ;)

It’s ready now. Enjoy! ~TMMF








Fiesta Ranch Chicken Pasta Salad

1 lb fusilli (rotini)
2-3 chicken breasts
1 Vidalia onion
1 green bell pepper
2 tomatoes
1 can corn, drained
1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
2 c grated sharp cheddar cheese
2 c mayonnaise
½ c milk
1 pkg Hidden Valley Fiesta Dip mix
½  pkg Taco Seasoning mix
1 tsp chili powder

Kansas City BBQ Sauce

Summer is still here for a while, and what better way to enjoy it than with a new barbecue recipe? This one comes from the Food Network Kitchen and since I’ve heard of Kansas City style BBQ but never tried it, I was very interested. I’m so glad I did, and I know you will be also.

The original recipe called for a tiny amount of allspice, which I didn’t have, and “English-style dried mustard.” I did have dried mustard but it has vanished from my cupboard, so I substituted prepared yellow mustard. I also nixed the bay leaf and cut down on the water to make it a little thicker.

So, let’s get cooking!

Peel and mince the garlic. In a medium saucepan, heat the oil a bit. Add the garlic, tomato paste, chili powder, paprika, crushed red pepper, and ground cloves. Stir together and cook about 3 minutes or so, until paste is a dark color.

Next, add the ketchup, water, apple cider vinegar, molasses, brown sugar, soy sauce, Worcestershire sauce, and mustard. Mix together well, bring to a boil, and turn heat down to simmer gently for 30 minutes.

I used chicken leg quarters for this, so I cut them apart and removed excess fat. This would be excellent with pork, as well.

Now you grill the meat, basting with the sauce as needed. You can obviously also do this in the oven, which is what I did the night I made these. For pieces other than legs, turn them upside down. Baste sauce on each piece of meat liberally. Bake in a preheated 400° oven for 25 minutes.

Remove the baking dish or sheet pan from the oven. Turn all pieces of meat over, and baste liberally with the BBQ sauce. Back in the oven it goes for another 30 minutes or until thoroughly cooked. You can also put them under the broiler for 5 or 10 minutes afterwards for that grilled look and taste.

Enjoy! ~TMMF

Kansas City Barbecue Sauce

6 cloves garlic
2 Tbl oil
1 Tbl chili powder
1 Tbl paprika
1 tsp crushed red pepper
1/4 tsp ground cloves
2 c ketchup
1/2 c water
1/2 c apple cider vinegar
1/4 c molasses
1/4 c dark brown sugar
1 Tbi soy sauce
1 Tbl Worcestershire sauce
2 Tbl prepared yellow mustard
(or 2 tsp dried mustard)

Chicken Bacon Ranch Pasta Salad

This is one of those pasta salads that tastes so stinking good, you don’t want to stop eating it. I ate it for breakfast the next morning, it was that good. The original recipe, from Yellow Bliss Road, had peas in it, and for a cold salad, I knew that wouldn’t fly with my kids. So I 86ed the peas and added in some green and yellow bell peppers, red onion, and a clove of garlic for extra zip. I also added mayo with the Ranch dressing to mellow it out a little. This is definitely a keeper.

So, let’s get cooking!

Set a pot of water to boil on the stove for the pasta. I chose mini farfalle for this; it just seemed to go good. But choose whichever shape you’d like. Cook until al dente, drain,  and then rinse thoroughly with cold water.

If you haven’t got cooked chicken or bacon on hand (left over), now would be a good time to cook those, too. ;)

Mince the garlic, dice the green and yellow bell peppers, red onion, and the humongous tomato. Yeah, I know there’s no tomato in that pic. You’ll have to just imagine it. Go ahead, it’s good for you; it builds your creativity. ;)

Place the pasta and veggies in a large mixing bowl. Now see? You imagined those diced tomatoes right into that photo! I knew you could do it!

Dice the chicken breast into somewhat smallish chunks, and chop the bacon. Add it to the rest in the bowl, and mix in the Ranch dressing and mayonnaise. This is so good, I’m sure you’ll love it!

Enjoy! ~TMMF

Chicken Bacon Ranch Pasta Salad

3 c pasta
(I used mini farfalle)
2 c cooked chicken breast
6 slices cooked bacon
½ green bell pepper
½ yellow bell pepper
¼ lg red onion
1 clove garlic
1 humongous tomato
¾ c Ranch dressing
½ c mayonnaise

Deviled Egg Pasta Salad

This recipe combines two of my favorite things: deviled eggs and pasta salad. I have no idea why I never thought to combine them myself, but who cares? Now I have! ;) I did not stray very far from the original recipe, found on 52 Ways to Cook; I only left out the pickle brine and sweet relish, and added in hot mustard to give it some added zip. I think you’ll like it.

So, let’s get cooking!

Set a large pot of water to boil for the pasta. You can obviously use any kind you want, but I love using different pasta shapes, and for some reason cavatappi seemed to be the best for this salad. After cooking until just al dente, drain and rinse well with cold water all the way through.

While that is all happening behind the scenes, dice the celery and red onion.

Peel and chop the boiled eggs. If you haven’t got any on hand, you obviously need to get those done. I have a bowl full in the fridge usually, because the kids like to have one of two for a snack. I figure, they’re inexpensive and it’s protein. I’d rather have them eating a couple of boiled eggs than handfuls of dry cereal.

In a large bowl, put the drained cooled pasta, the celery and onions, and the mayo and yellow and brown mustards.

Mix well, and add the eggs, mixing in but not so much as to decimate them. ;)

Serve and enjoy! ~TMMF

Deviled Egg Pasta Salad

1 lb cavatappi
(or another shape)
3 stalks celery
½ med. red onion
8 hard boiled eggs
2 c mayonnaise
3 Tbl yellow mustard
2 Tbl hot brown mustard

Cheesy Confetti Pasta Salad

Okay, with Summer in full swing, I’ve been trying not to use the oven because the kitchen gets so stinking hot. So as I was browsing cold pasta recipes, I came upon one that I decided to make, only in the end I made up one myself. If I change a couple things around in a recipe, obviously I can’t claim that it’s my original recipe, but with this one it’s safe to say it’s mine.

The original recipe I was going to make used rotini pasta, red bell pepper, celery, onion, cheddar cheese chunks, and a sauce that was basically what you use to make cole slaw. I used mini farfalle pasta, 3 colored bell peppers, no celery, red onion, no chunks of cheese, and a bottle of Asiago peppercorn salad dressing. So yes, this one is mine! ;)

So, let’s get cooking!

Set a pot of water to boil for the pasta. Cook until al dente, then drain and rinse thoroughly with cold water to stop the cooking process.

In the meantime, you can dice the green, red, and yellow bell peppers and the red onion. I chose the red onion mostly because of the beautiful added color it would give to this side dish. Since the pasta is small, you’ll want to dice the veggies fairly small also. Peel and mince the garlic. Don’t skip the garlic; it really put this pasta salad over the top!

Put the cooled pasta and the veggies in a bowl.

Add the Asiago Peppercorn dressing and stir well.

And…..voilà!

Look at this delicious pasta salad just bursting with color and flavor! Enjoy! ~TMMF







Cheesy Confetti Pasta Salad

12 oz mini farfalle
½ green bell pepper
½ red bell pepper
½ yellow bell pepper
¼ lg red onion
1-2 cloves garlic
1 16 oz bottle Asiago
     peppercorn dressing
salt and pepper to taste

Creamy Buffalo Chicken Soup

Okay, this recipe has a really interesting back story. This is my original recipe, and it came about because months and months ago, I had a dream that I was cooking, making a soup, this soup specifically. When I woke, I was thinking, what a great idea! So after letting it roll around in my head for a while, I finally tried it.

The first time I made it, it was fantastic, and everyone loved it. It was gone too soon! But when I went to write it up for TMMF, it seemed like something was missing. Suddenly I knew what would go good in this--rice!

So when I made it the second time, I added some rice to it and sure enough, it was now perfect and ready to go live. ;) The amounts of hot sauce and Ranch dressing are perfect; just enough so that one doesn’t overpower the other. I hope you enjoy it as much as we do.

So, let’s get cooking!

Cube the boneless skinless chicken breasts into 1” pieces. Place them in a bowl and mix in the hot sauce to marinate them while you work on the other ingredients.

Dice the celery and onions, and slice the carrots. You’ll have to imagine carrot coins next to the diced celery and onion in this pic. ;)

Next, set the carrots to cook until al dente in a small pot. If you don’t have any leftover cooked rice, you’ll need to cook some up now, enough to make 2 c cooked.

While that’s happening, sauté the cubed chicken in a large sauce pan until just done (no oil needed for this). Set the cooked chicken and the juices in a bowl.

In the same pot, sauté the diced celery and onion in the 2 Tbl of oil, just until tender.

Now add the chicken stock and keep the heat on medium low. Cut up the cream cheese into chunks, and add them, using a whisk to incorporate them into the broth. Make sure you don’t have the heat up too high. Stir in the Ranch dressing.

Your rice should be done by now, so add it to the soup, as well as the carrots and chicken, including all the juices from the chicken. Scrape that bowl clean with a rubber spatula; you don’t want to miss a drop of that wonderful flavor!

And it’s done. Enjoy! ~TMMF

Creamy Buffalo Chicken Soup

2 lg chicken breasts
   (boneless, skinless)
½ c hot sauce (like Frank’s or Texas Pete)
½ md Vidalia onion
2 stalks celery
3 lg carrots
2 Tbl oil
6 c chicken stock or broth
8 oz pkg cream cheese
½ c Ranch dressing
2 c cooked rice