everyday food made simple

So a few months ago when we had a pot luck at work, one of my favorite coworkers, Erika, made this amazing buffalo chicken pasta salad she found on Pinterest via Life on LeRoy. It was a hit that day, and I even told her that I’ll take any leftovers home if there was even any left.

Of course, by the end of the day, the entire bowl of pasta she brought was licked clean and empty. It was probably for the better, as I have already had about 2-3 huge helpings of it throughout my 12-hour shift.

Now that it’s finally (FINALLY!) going to be in the upper 60s this weekend, what better way to celebrate the arrival of spring/summer than making some good ole pasta salad?

Instead of using the classic blue cheese & hot sauce combo found in “buffalo sauce”, I found a brand at the grocery store that combined ranch dressing and hot sauce instead and decided to give it a whirl.IMG_0763

Well, it turned out to be quite delicious. A whole box of pasta is a lot when you’re only feeding two people, so my good friend Nicky “volunteered” to help me out and will be bringing some home with her this weekend.

buffalo ranch chicken pasta salad
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Ingredients
  1. 1-16 oz light buffalo ranch salad dressing
  2. 1 rotisserie chicken, shredded
  3. 7-8 stalks celery, diced
  4. 1 red onion, diced
  5. 1 lb of your favorite pasta
  6. Salt and pepper
Instructions
  1. Cook pasta according to directions on box. Drain.
  2. In a large bowl, combine diced onions, celery, shredded chicken, the whole bottle of salad dressing, and pasta together.
  3. Toss well to make sure everything is evenly coated with the dressing.
  4. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
  5. Place in refrigerator until pasta is chilled throughout.
Adapted from Life on LeRoy
Adapted from Life on LeRoy
Simple Everyday Food https://www.simpleeverydayfood.com/
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Enjoy!

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Well, the weekend’s coming to an end, and tomorrow’s everyone’s favorite day of the week: Monday. In our household, every other weekend are the only days my husband and I get to spend quality time with each other – this usually means doing homework together, running errands together, and cooking together (and making enough so we’ve got plenty of leftovers for tomorrow’s lunch). We like to try new recipes, and deciding whether we should add them to our “remake”or “meh I didn’t really care for it” recipe box.

The stacked enchiladas we made tonight are a twist on regular enchiladas. Instead of serving them like they traditionally do, we stacked them, turning them into a “enchilada lasagna”.

What else goes well with enchiladas?

Rice. Cilantro lime rice. The kind they have at Chipotle – my favorite Mexican joint. Next time I’m making some carnitas and making my own burrito!

First, enchiladas…

Ingredients:

  • 1 green pepper, chopped
  • 2 teaspoon olive oil
  • 1 garlic clove, minced
  • 1.5-2 cups shredded chicken – we roasted a chicken last night so we used the leftovers
  • 1/3 cup green onions, thinly sliced
  • 1/2 cup enchilada sauce
  • 1/2 cup picante sauce
  • 4 8″ corn tortillas
  • 1 cup shredded cheese
  • other toppings of your choice – sour cream, shredded lettuce…

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Note: if you like black beans in your enchiladas, you can also add one cup of canned black beans as well.

Directions:

  • Preheat oven at 350 degrees
  • Grease a 9″ pie plate, set aside.
  • In a large skillet, saute the green pepper in the oil for about 2-3 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for another 2-3 minutes, or until the green pepper is crisp-tender.
  • Stir in the chicken, green onions (and black beans if desired), cook for another minute. Transfer to a bowl and set aside.

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  • In the same skillet, combine the enchilada sauce and picante sauce. Coat both sides of a tortilla with the sauce mixture, then place it in the pie plate. Top with 1/3 of the chicken mixture and 1/4 cup of cheese.

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  • Repeat the layers twice. Top with remaining tortilla, sauce, and cheese.
  • Bake at 20-22 minutes or until heated through. Cut into wedges and serve with sour cream or lettuce if desired.

Now, for the rice….

Ingredients:

  • 1 cup basmati rice
  • 2 cups water
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • Juice of 1/2 a lime
  • 2 tablespoons cilantro, minced
  • 1 tablespoon oil

Directions:

  • In a large pot, saute the rice in the oil for about a minute. Add the water and bay leaf, bring to a boil.
  • Once the water boils, turn heat down, cover, and simmer for 15 minutes.
  • Remove from heat while still keeping the cover on the pot. Let stand for about 30 minutes. Remove bay leaf, then transfer rice to a large mixing bowl.
  • In the meantime, combine the salt and lime juice in a small bowl. Whisk until all the salt is dissolved, then add in the cilantro.

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  • Pour lime juice & cilantro mixture over rice. Toss until rice is evenly coated.

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Enjoy!

Recipes adapted from: Taste of Home Magazine & Em Maliks Kitchen

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