Macaroni Salad

My grandmother made one of the best macaroni salads I’ve ever had. I find when I try similar macaroni salads … nothing quite matches up or compares to my grandmother’s. Her recipe is quite simple, but it’s one that I love.  With summer upon us I’d wanted macaroni salad for weeks. Since we were having a Fourth of July BBQ I decided to pick up green pepper to ensure I could whip up a batch for the barbecue.

Since I try to recreate dishes with lighter ingredients, I opted to use light mayonnaise and I included some light sour cream into the dish. The sour cream is only used to really stretch the creaminess in the dish and to refrain from using extra mayonnaise.  I’ve always called this macaroni salad.

The amount I made is enough to serve at a barbecue or a large family/friend gathering. You could easily cut this in half if it’s being made for a few.

Serves 16. 5 Points Plus values. 2/3 cup serving.

Ingredients:

• 1 pound elbow macaroni
• 1 cup light mayonnaise
• ½ cup fat free sour cream
• 1 can solid white tuna fish packed in water, drained, shredded
• 1 medium bell pepper, diced
• 1 medium onion, diced
• 25 Spanish olives (roughly 4 oz), stuffed with pimentos, sliced [OR salad olives]
• Salt (to taste)
• Pepper (to taste)

 Bring a large pot of salted water to boil over a medium-high flame. Add in macaroni and cook pasta until al dente.

Open can of tuna fish, drain well and add to a bowl to flake/shred.  Toss tuna fish with onion and green pepper.

When pasta is done, drain in a colander and run cold water over the pasta to stop the cooking process. Add pasta to bowl with tuna fish and vegetables.

Season with salt and pepper and begin to fold in the mayonnaise and sour cream. When all combined, add in the sliced olives and fold in to combine.

Set macaroni salad into the fridge to chill at last 1-hour before serving.

Trader Joe’s Spicy Thai Style Pasta Salad with Chicken Breast

I had been eyeing this Spicy Thai Style Pasta Salad with Chicken Breast at Trader Joe’s the last few times I’ve been to the store. I finally picked it up and decided to give it a try.

The meal is ideally made to be eaten cold, but I did pop my serving (which is half the container) into the microwave for 30 seconds just to take the chill off it – primarily off the chicken. I will say half a serving is not a lot of food, so I did have some steamed broccoli and carrots on the side to help “bulk” up the dish.  Flavor wise it’s very good, but as the package states it’s definitely spicy.  It’s not burn a hole in your mouth spicy, but it will make your lips and tongue tingle for a while as and after you finish eating it. There’s more pasta, scallions (green onions) and carrots in the dish with a very minimal sprinkling of chicken.  If this were to be someone’s lunch or dinner I’d suggest some additional protein or a vegetable on the side to help satisfy.

A serving is 290 calories and is 8 points plus values.  Not the greatest of stats for what you get, but for a different sort of meal once in a while – I say, why not?

QUESTION:

What is your favorite take and make meal from Trader Joe’s?

Pasta Salad

When spring and summer roll around this is one dish that is highly requested from me to bring to cookouts (as well as my simple tossed salad for some reason) and it’s such a simple recipe.  My boyfriend LOVES my pasta salad and if I ever mention the phrase “pasta salad” we typically end up having it that week in the fridge to pair against all of our meals.

It takes about 20 minutes to whip together and it does taste delicious straight out of the bowl after making it, but if you allow the flavors to marinate overnight in the fridge it really tastes 100% better.  If I do make this and have it for the next day, I do add a little more dressing to it just to make it wetter – but otherwise it’s perfect.

This is a great side to bring to a barbecue because this way you can rely on at least one side dish that you know is point friendly.  It’d also be great to have as a side dish with any meat – chicken, steak, sausage, hamburger, etc.

4 Points Plus Values per serving.  Serves 20.  Serving size is roughly 1/2 - 3/4 cup.

Ingredients:

• 1 pound box of Barilla medium shells (or your favorite pasta brand)
• 15.5 oz can of black beans, drained and rinsed (note: if you prefer you can substitute white beans/ pinto/kidney/etc)
• 7 3/4 oz can of chick peas, drained and rinsed
  
• 15.5 oz can of low sodium corn, drained
• 1 large red peppers (OR green), diced
• ½ large red onion, diced
• 1 cup frozen peas
• 1 cup Wishbone Light Robusto Italian dressing
• 1 oz (less than 1/2 the container) McCormick Perfect Pinch Salad Supreme seasoning (see here: http://www.mccormick.com/Spices-and-Flavors/Herbs-and-Spices/Blends/Perfect-Pinch-Salad-Supreme-Seasoning)

Bring a seasoned (with salt) pot of water up to boil and boil your pasta until al dente.

While your water is boiling dice up your red peppers (you can use red and green if you wish or green, I change it up depending what I have on hand) and set aside.  Dice up your red onion and set aside.

Drain your beans and rinse with water to get all the starchy water off and set aside. Drain your corn and set aside.  Add your frozen peas to the bowl and set aside.

When your pasta is finished boiling, drain and shock with cold water to stop the cooking process.  Drain well and add to a large bowl.  Add in chopped up fresh vegetables and stir to combine.  Add in canned beans, corn and peas and stir to combine.

You can begin to season with the McCormick Perfect Pinch Salad Supreme seasoning.  This is where you can use your own discretion. I season my pasta salad in 3 layers.  A sprinkle after I add in my veggies and combine.  I add in ½ cup of salad dressing and stir to combine – then start seasoning with additional salad supreme.  Once all mixed I add the remaining ½ cup of salad dressing and sprinkle in more salad supreme.  I don’t measure because I go by looking at the color of the mixture … I’d say I use about 1/5 to 1/4^th of the container at a time.

Stir to combine and serve straight away or let the salad sit in the fridge for at least 30 minutes to let it get nice and cold.