Chicken Caesar Pasta Salad

Easy Weekday Cooking 

Chicken Caesar Pasta Salad

Cook's Notes: Shortcuts for easy meal planning with a recipe that serves 4. Consider bottled Parmesan Caesar  dressing from the produce department. It has fewer preservatives than regular dressing.  

Ingredients:

• 1 bag Romaine lettuce or regular romaine, chopped and mixed with fresh spinach 
• 3 cups cooked chicken, diced (I used a rotisserie chicken)  
• 1 cup grape tomatoes, halved
• 2 cups cooked pasta, rinsed and drained
• 1 cup cucumbers, diced
• 1-1/2 cups grated Parmesan cheese
• Bottled Parmesan Caesar Dressing 
• Croutons
• Squeeze fresh lemon

Directions:

• In a large bowl toss lettuce, chicken, tomatoes, pasta, cucumbers, 1 cup Parmesan cheese with just enough dressing to moisten the salad. 
• Right before serving add croutons, rest of Parmesan cheese and a squeeze of fresh lemon.   

Up Your Game in the Kitchen

Put your Spices to Good Use

• Heighten the flavor of any spice (whole or ground) by toasting it in a dry skillet for a minute or two, stirring occasionally, until fragrant. 
• Make a new rub for meat or fish using equal parts of of the following spices

Moroccan-ground cumin, dried oregano, turmeric, kosher salt  
Southwestern-smoked paprika, garlic powder, onion powder, chili powder, kosher salt
Italian- dried basil, oregano, thyme, rosemary, garlic powder, kosher salt

Favor Infusion Hummus Mash
Instead of adding sour cream and butter to your baked or mashed potatoes, stir in dollops of hummus. With varieties from roasted garlic to basil to pesto to roasted red pepper, it's a great way to amp up the flavor and nutrients. 

Baking Tips

• Try baking with malt powder. It gives cookies, cakes and quick breads an indescribable, amazing rich flavor. just add a tablespoon or two to the dry ingredients. 
• If you lightly coat chocolate chips and blueberries with flour right before you add to batter, will prevent them from sinking to the bottom. 

Freezer Idea- Before cutting raw bacon pop it in freezer for 10 minutes. It will firm up for easier chopping. This also works well for fresh mozzarella.

Roast shrimp for cocktail hour Toss shrimp with olive oil, salt and pepper. Spread on a baking sheet and roast at 475 degrees for about 8 minutes. The shrimp will have a great charred, caramelized flavor.  

Easier Handling of Butter

• Grate the cold butter on to a plate
• Cut the butter into small pieces. It'll soften more quickly.