Let's Eat Blog Hop

Welcome to Let's Eat Blog Hop! If you arrived here from Random Reflections, home of the very talented Karen, welcome! It was a fairly short hop from upstate New York to southeastern Pennsylvania, so you should be read to dive right in!  If you are starting here, no worries, you can follow the entire hop by clicking on the link at the end of this post.

Quick & Easy Chicken Pasta Salad - approx. 8 servings

Feeding finicky youngsters is a tricky proposition. Feeding finicky teens is impossible. If I serve a meal they don't like, they simply won't eat it. But this is one meal they actually enjoy! It's a cold one-dish meal, great for summertime. Only six ingredients! Easy to whip up for potlucks and backyard barbeques! This recipe is also very forgiving in that there are no exact measurements and you can add more or less of any of the ingredients to change the amount of servings you create!

Ingredients to serve 8:

• 1 pkg Farfalle (bowtie) Pasta - 12 oz.
• 1 pkg Perdue Short Cuts Original Roasted Chicken (or 2 chicken breasts baked)
• 1 large tomato
• 1 large or 2 small cucumbers
• 1 pkg Cracker Barrel extra-sharp white reduced fat Cheddar Cheese - use approx 6 oz. (feel free to substitute here - the salad would be great with feta, gorgonzola, or blue cheese crumbles if you like something with a little more zing)
• 1 bottle Hidden Valley Original Ranch Dressing - 8 oz.
• Optional - sliced black olives, any other veggies you want to add

Instructions:

1. Cook pasta according to package directions. Drain and set aside.
2. Cube chicken, tomatoes, cucumbers, and cheese into small pieces.
3. Combine all ingredients into serving dish. Add any optional ingredients to suit.
4. Slowly add ranch dressing, stirring until all ingredients are lightly coated.
5. You can season to taste if desired, but we find the ranch dressing to be more than sufficient seasoning!
6. Refrigerate and serve cold.

I input this recipe into My Fitness Pal and came up with this nutrition info per serving:  Calories - 411; Carbs - 36 g.;  Fat - 20 g.;  Protein - 19 g.;  Fiber - 2 g.   You can make it lower cal by using a low-fat ranch dressing if you prefer.

Now off you go to the UK to visit Jacky and see what she has cooked up for us! It's a longer hop, so you might want to grab some Chicken Pasta Salad for the trip!