Chicken Pasta Salad

On Friday, knowing that we would be working on our house all weekend, I made a fabulous Chicken Pasta Salad that we could munch on all weekend. I thought I'd share the recipe...because it is definitely worth making. I even thought to take a picture of it, but with moving...I am not sure where the cord is that connects the camera to the computer, so the picture will have to wait. I got this recipe from a friend Julie...and it is quick, easy, feeds a crowd, or just a few and keeps really well!

photo credit

Chicken Pasta Salad

Ingredients:
1 Box bow tie pasta--cooked and rinsed
a couple of stalks of celery (more or less if you would like--I like the crunchies)
red and green grapes (I like it a lot with both flavors, but if you want to just buy one--I bet it would be good to0--also, I cut mine in half, but you don't have to--I just have little kids.
2 packets of Hidden Valley Ranch Salad dressing (dry mix)--mixed up like a salad dressing (not a dip) with the mayo and milk
Chicken--I used 2 huge breasts, and just sprinkled with seasoned salt when I cooked them, then diced.

What to Do:
It is really as simple as making sure that the Chicken is cooked and diced, the celery is diced, the grapes are cleaned and halved (if you choose to cut yours), and the pasta is cooked and rinsed. I mixed up the dressing and used lite mayo and low fat milk. I suppose you could use whole wheat pasta too to help with the healthy factor--I just had plain, so that is what I used. Initially, if you are going to eat it right away, you probably won't need all of the dressing...just enough to coat everything--it will be just too much otherwise. If you are cooking ahead and aren't going to eat it right away, add most of it...the pasta absorbs the dressing moisture and you don't want it to be dry. Mix everything together and enjoy! It is such a summer meal--and an easy lunch!

Love and Blessings,

Amanda

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Dining with Debbie