Creamy Ranch Pasta Salad

Pasta salad deserves better.  Sure, it's a delicious side, but why leave it there?  Every grocery store deli will happily sell you some gloppy macaroni salad, but come on, we can do better than that.  Why not make pasta salad a main course?  Why not add enough great ingredients that it can stand on its own?  Most importantly -- why not bacon?

As you can see, my board is fuller than usual.  A lot of stuff goes into this pasta salad, but there's not a lot of prep for most of it.  You'll need some pasta, of course.  Go for an interesting shape - I used Cavatappi to great success this time around.

We'll feature a pair of proteins, both chicken and bacon.  For the veggies, I use broccoli, cucumber, carrots, and bell pepper - but you can add or change as you see fit.  A lot of people are into tomatoes - raw ones make me sad, but you can go crazy with them if that's your thing.  I also love some cheese in my pasta salad, so I added a block of extra-sharp cheddar.

Finally, the supporting cast is made up of Greek yogurt, a bit of mayonnaise and sour cream, salt, pepper, garlic powder, and a packet of ranch dressing mix.

We'll start with the chicken.  If it's warm enough outside and you have easy access, you can always just grill it.  Since we don't own a grill, though (alas!), I like to use this method to simulate grilling in the oven while adding a ton of flavor.

First, rinse the chicken and pat it dry.  Season it well with salt, pepper, and garlic powder, then give dip it in the Greek yogurt to coat.  The yogurt dip will keep the chicken super moist while it cooks, even while you get a nice, slightly-blackened exterior.

Lay the yogurt-dipped chicken out on a wire rack atop a baking sheet -- this should let hot air circulate around the whole chicken breast at once and keep the bottom from getting soggy.  You may even want to line the baking sheet with foil to catch the drips and make clean-up simpler.

Broil the chicken 6 inches away from the broiler about 5 minutes per side until it's nicely blackened on the outside and the inside is up to temperature.  Set it aside for later.

While the chicken is cooking, fry up the bacon.  Try not to eat too much of it before it ever gets into the pasta salad.  Dry the finished product on papers towels and set aside for later.

Don't forget that we need some pasta, too!  Cook it up according to the package directions, leaving it on the al-dente side.  Drain well and set it aside to cool once it's done.

Now for all of that other stuff.  Chop the broccoli, cucumber, bell pepper, carrots, and cheese into bite-sized pieces.  I like to quickly blanch the broccoli for 30 seconds or so in boiling water to soften it just a touch before I chop it, but that's up to you.

The chicken and bacon should be cool enough to handle by now, so give those a good chopping, too.

Finally, it's time to put it all together.  You'll probably need a couple of large bowls for this - this recipe filled up the two largest bowls in my kitchen handily.  Combine everything, preferably leaving a little extra room at the top of the bowl so that you can stir the dressing in easily.

Speaking of dressing, we'd better make some.  Combine the mayonnaise, sour cream, and ranch dressing mix and stir well.  Give it a taste and adjust as you see fit - I added a little more garlic and some dried herbs.

Add your preferred amount of dressing to the salad and stir well to mix.  I like it fairly lightly dressed - there's enough good stuff in these bowls to be tasty all by itself.

Throw it in the fridge to fully chill and let the flavors marry a bit, and you're ready to serve.  This is a fantastic, summery main course, and so easy to prepare well in advance.  Enjoy!

Recipe: Creamy Ranch Pasta Salad
Prep Time: 10 Minutes | Cook Time: 20 Minutes | Chill Time: 1-2 Hours | Difficulty: Easy | Servings: 12-15
Ingredients

• 16 oz Cavatappi Pasta
• 1-2 pounds Boneless Skinless Chicken Breast
• 1 pound Bacon
• 3 heads Broccoli
• 1 large Cucumber
• 2 large Green Bell Peppers
• 8 ounces Baby Carrots
• 8 ounces Extra-Sharp Cheddar Cheese
• 1 1/2 cups Mayonnaise
• 1/2 cup Sour Cream
• 16 ounces Greek Yogurt
• 1 packet Ranch Dressing Mix
• 2 teaspoons Garlic Powder
• Salt and Pepper to taste

Instructions

1. Cook pasta according to directions on package.  Drain well and set aside to cool.
2. Rinse chicken and pat dry.  Season well with salt, pepper, and garlic powder then coat completely with Greek yogurt.
3. Place yogurt-covered chicken on a wire rack atop a baking pan and broil approx. 5 minutes per side until blackened on the outside and done in the middle.  Set aside to cool.
4. Fry bacon in a heavy skillet.  Dry well with papers towels and set aside.
5. (Optional): Blanch broccoli 30 seconds in boiling water.
6. Chop all vegetables and cheese into small, bite-sized pieces.
7. Once chicken and bacon have cooled, chop into small, bite-sized pieces.
8. Combine pasta, chicken, bacon, cheese, and vegetables in large bowl(s).
9. In a small mixing bowl, combine mayonnaise, sour cream, and ranch dressing mix.  Adjust seasoning to taste and stir to mix.
10. Add dressing to pasta mixture to taste and stir well to combine.
11. Chill at least 1-2 hours before serving.  Serve cold.

Greek Zucchini Orzo

Kristin and I have been a bit bored by conventional vegetable-delivery methods, lately.  We needed a side for our Roasted Chicken and nothing quite seemed right.  I wanted to do something a little more interesting than a pile of steamed or roasted vegetables, and of course a little starch never goes amiss.  I decided to make something up, and my Orzo and zucchini invention worked out pretty well.

Zucchini was on sale, so we started there.  I chose Orzo as a starch because I think it's a really great textural element for a side dish, sitting right between pasta and rice and somehow capturing the best of both. The chicken had some Greek flavors - particularly oregano and lemon - so I decided to do the Orzo with a similar palette.  Ultimately, we ended up with a great, flavorful side dish that I'll definitely make again.

You'll need some orzo, obviously, and some zucchini.  The bulk of the flavor comes from lemon, garlic, oregano, thyme, salt, and pepper.  It's all held together by a little butter and some white wine.

Take a look at this wine bottle.  How cool is that?  The portrait is on the inside of the back label.  I am more than happy to judge a wine by its bottle, and this one won me over immediately.  It was a good pick, too - a mix of Argentinian Torrontes grapes with just a bit of Sauvignon Blanc.  Yum.

Okay, back to food.  Dice the onion, mince your garlic, and chop down your zucchini into bite-sized pieces.

Cook your Orzo to al-dente according to the directions on the box, and we'll finish it off with the rest of the ingredients.

Add all of the vegetable matter you just chopped up to a large skillet over medium heat with a little butter or olive oil, and saute until things start to get tender.  Add plenty of spices - the oregano, thyme, salt, and pepper.

When the vegetables are tender, add the Orzo into the skillet along with the juice of a lemon (a few tablespoons, if you're using pre-packaged juice) and half a cup or so of the white wine (stock works fine if you want to avoid alcohol).  Give it a good stir and let it burble away.  The al-dente Orzo and the Zucchini should absorb all sorts of flavor from the liquids.

When the liquid looks like it's mostly either cooked off or been absorbed, check your seasonings and adjust as necessary, then you're ready to serve.

Serve warm, topped with some extra herbs and/or a little Parmesan Cheese.  Enjoy!

Recipe: Greek Zucchini Orzo

Prep Time: 5 Minutes | Cook Time: 15-20 Minutes | Difficulty: Easy | Servings: 8-10

Ingredients

• 12 oz Orzo Pasta
• 4 medium Zucchini
• Juice of one Lemon
• 1 medium Sweet Onion
• 1/2 cup White Wine
• 3 cloves Garlic
• 1 tbsp Oregano
• 1 tsp Thyme
• 1 tbsp Butter
• Salt and Pepper to taste
• Optional: Parmesan Cheese to garnish

Instructions

1. Cook Orzo to al-dente according to directions on package.
2. Dice onion, mince garlic, and chop zucchini down to bite-sized pieces.
3. Melt butter in a large skillet over medium heat.  Add onion, garlic, and zucchini.  Season with oregano, thyme, salt, and pepper.  Saute over medium heat until vegetables are tender.
4. Add cooked Orzo to skillet along with lemon juice and wine.  Simmer gently until liquid has evaporated or absorbed.
5. Check and adjust seasoning as necessary.
6. Serve warm, garnished with additional herbs and/or shaved Parmesan Cheese. 

Chicken Cacciatore

My original exposure to Chicken Cacciatore came from a short-lived brand of simmering sauces called "Chicken Tonight."  You may not remember them, but I bet you remember the jingle.  Play the video below and it'll all come rushing back.

Remember now?  The advertising obviously worked on my family, as we would often proclaim "I feel like chicken tonight!"  I think the only one of their sauces we tried was the cacciatore, but it was actually pretty tasty.  Chicken Tonight brand is now gone (though apparently quite alive and quite successful abroad), but chicken cacciatore remains delicious.  It's also quite easy!  This recipe made enough to feed Kristin and me for almost a week, so it's a great way to eat for a while or entertain company on a small budget.

This recipe makes great use of chicken thighs.  They're cheap, and both absorb a lot of flavor from the sauce in which they simmer and lend some nice meaty flavor of their own.  You'll also need bell peppers, sweet onion, button mushrooms, canned tomatoes, garlic olive oil, butter, flour, white wine, thyme, oregano, basil, salt, and pepper.

It sounds like a long list, but when the long list is mostly vegetables and seasonings, life is good.

First, pre-heat your oven to 350 degrees.

Season your chicken thighs all over with salt and pepper, then dredge in a thin coating of flour.

In a large dutch oven (or other pot capable of moving from stove to oven), melt a tablespoon of butter in a bit of olive oil.  Brown the chicken on both sides, 3-4 minutes per side.  Do this in batches, setting the chicken aside afterward.  You don't need to cook the chicken completely through, as it will finish in the oven, but do get it nice and brown.

While the chicken is cooking, chop the onion, bell pepper, and mushrooms into large-ish pieces.  They'll be cooking for quite a while, so keeping pieces large retains some texture.

Pour off most of the remaining fat once the chicken is browned, keeping a tablespoon or two in the pan.  Add all of the vegetables to the pan - onions, peppers, mushrooms, and minced garlic.  Cook just a couple of minutes until they're starting to soften.

After a couple of minutes, add a cup of decent white wine and your seasonings - thyme, basil, oregano, salt, and pepper.  A dry white is probably ideal, but all I had on hand was a Riesling, and that worked really nicely.  Drink the rest of whatever you use with dinner - it'll pair nicely.

Cook the vegetables and wine another minute or two until the wine starts to bubble.  This ensures that you avoid that edgy, "raw wine" taste.

Once the wine is bubbling, open and add your two large cans of diced tomatoes, juice and all.  Your dutch oven will be getting quite full at this point.  It should also be smelling better and better.

Reintroduce the chicken thighs to the magical mixture in the dutch oven.  At least partially submerge the chicken so it can absorb plenty of saucy goodness.

Now into the oven!  Cover and bake for 1 hour at 350 degrees.

By about 30 minutes in, your entire home will smell amazing.  Hang in there to finish the hour before pulling it out and uncovering the dutch oven.  Distract yourself in the last 10-15 minutes by cooking some pasta according to the directions on the box.  When the timer finally goes off, the cacciatore should look more or less like the photo above.

Devour promptly over noodles.

Recipe: Chicken Cacciatore
Prep Time: 15 Minutes | Cook Time: 90 Minutes | Difficulty: Easy | Servings: 8-10

Ingredients

• 16 oz Pasta, cooked according to directions on package.
• 8 Chicken Thighs
• 1/3 cup Flour
• 1 large Sweet Onion
• 2 large Red Bell Peppers
• 8 cloves Garlic
• 12 oz White Button Mushrooms
• 2 cans (28 oz) Diced Tomatoes
• 3/4 cup White Wine
• 2 tbsp Olive Oil
• 1 tbsp Butter
• 1 tsp Ground Thyme
• 2 tsp Oregano
• 1 tsp Basil
• Salt and Pepper to taste

Instructions

1. Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Roughly chop onions, peppers, and mushrooms.  Leave pieces fairly large.  Mince garlic.
3. Season chicken with salt and pepper.  Dredge in flour.
4. Melt butter in olive oil in a large dutch oven over medium heat.  Brown chicken on both sides, 3-4 minutes per side.  Set chicken aside and discard all but a small amount of fat.
5. Saute onions, peppers, mushrooms, and garlic in remaining fat 2-3 minutes until beginning to soften.  Add thyme, oregano, basil, salt, pepper, and wine.  Cook another 1 minute until wine bubbles.
6. Add canned tomatoes (with juice) and mix well.
7. Return chicken to dutch oven, partially submerged.  Cover and bake 1 hour at 350 degrees.
8. Serve hot over pasta.

Roasted Vegetable Lasagna

I'm not always the biggest fan of traditional lasagna - the kind with ricotta, tomato sauce, and ground beef.  It tends to be dry, and the ratios are often skewed from what I'd really like.  I generally find that I'd prefer something like a baked ziti with similar ingredients than a lasagna of that kind.

That's not the whole story on lasagna, though.  There's more out there, and sometimes it really makes sense to do things in layers, rather than all mixed up in a casserole.  This roasted vegetable lasagna is one of those tasty alternatives.  Three different layers of roasted vegetables sit between pasta in plenty of creamy, white sauce, all with toasty cheese on top. 

This is a somewhat complicated, time-consuming recipe, but feeds a lot of people and ends up very tasty.  It's good, and not even terrible for you, all things considered.

Lots of ingredients here, but they're almost all vegetables.  You'll need lasagna noodles, of course.  You can vary the vegetables, but I used red peppers, zucchini, spinach, onion, and butternut squash.  The sauce is made from milk, lots of garlic, some flour to thicken, and various other spices - I used oregano, thyme, and red pepper this time around.  And, of course, you'll need some cheese, both for the sauce itself and to melt on top of everything.

First, pre-heat your oven to 400 degrees.

Lots of chopping to do!  Dice the onion, and cut the butternut squash down into pieces about an inch on a side.  Quarter the zucchini lengthwise.

Arrange the squash and zucchini on an un-greased baking sheet.

Grease another small baking sheet, and place whole red bell peppers on it.  Make sure to remove the stickers!  Cover the peppers in just a bit of oil.

Now put both of the baking sheets into the oven for about a half-hour at 400 degrees.  Check everything at 15 minutes and turn it all over.  The zucchini may be plenty soft at this point - take it out, if so.  Let the squash and peppers both go until the squash is quite soft and the peppers' skin is blackened.

In the meantime, saute the onions with some minced garlic in a large stock pot or dutch oven for several minutes until they are translucent.

Once the onions are soft and translucent, add washed spinach and a few tablespoons of water. Turn the heat up to medium-high, cover, and let the spinach wilt in the steam for a couple of minutes.

While the spinach wilts, put 5 cups or so of milk in a stockpot.  Add salt, pepper, and your herbs, and bring slowly to a boil.  Take it easy on the heat, or you're likely to burn the bottom and create a very unpleasant taste.  Once the mixture boils, reduce the heat to low and let things stand for a few minutes while you take care of some other tasks.

Check the spinach 3 minutes or so after you put the cover on its pot.  It should be nicely wilted and most of the water evaporated.  Saute with onions and garlic another minute or two over medium heat to work out some of the excess moisture, then set the mixture aside in a bowl for later.

Mix a few tablespoons of flour with about a half cup of cold milk until smooth.  Pour this into the milk mixture and stir slowly to thicken.  When thickened, add 1 1/2 cups shredded cheese.  Continue stirring slowly over low heat until sauce is smooth.

At this point, the vegetables are almost certainly done, so when it's time, pull them out.  Chop the zucchini into small pieces and set aside.

Place the roasted squash in a bowl with lots and lots of minced garlic - half a dozen cloves or so ought to do.  Mash the squash with a fork and mix the squash and garlic together.

There are any number of ways to get the blackened skin off of roasted peppers.  My personal preference is to shock briefly in a bowl of ice water.  The skin should loosen and pull right off after just a couple of seconds in the water.

Remove the skin from the roasted red peppers and cut down into small, bite-sized strips.  Set aside with the zucchini - these two will be a vegetable layer in the lasagna shortly.

Finally, it's time to assemble!  First, put about 1/2 to 3/4 cup of the sauce in the bottom of a 9x13" pan.  Add a layer of noodles over the sauce, then spread the squash mixture over those noodles.

The process will go like this from now on: sauce, noodles, veggies.

Add more sauce and noodles over the squash mixture, then spread zucchini and roasted red peppers over the new noodles.

One more vegetable layer!  After adding more sauce and noodles, add the spinach and onions.

Now finish off the sauce in two more steps.  Add the usual sauce over the spinach and onions, followed by a top layer of noodles.  Then, add whatever sauce is left over those noodles.  Cover as best you can, as these top noodles will do their best to overcook and dry out.

It's time!  Throw the pan into the oven for 30 minutes at 400 degrees.  Be careful, it's a heavy pan.

After the half-hour is up, you're nearly there.  Pull the lasagna out and heat up the broiler.  Cover the lasagna with a layer of cheese.

Broil 2 minutes until cheese is bubbling and beginning to brown.

It's finally ready!  Let it cool 10 minutes or so so that it doesn't all fall apart when you cut it, then serve hot with salad.

Recipe: Roasted Vegetable Lasagna
Prep Time: 15 Minutes | Cook Time: 1 Hour 30 Minutes | Difficulty: Medium | Servings: 8-10

Ingredients

• 1 package no-boil Lasagna Noodles
• 1 large Butternut Squash, peeled and cubed
• 1 large bunch Fresh Spinach
• 1 large Sweet Onion
• 2 large Red Bell Peppers
• 2 medium Zucchini
• 5 1/2 cups Milk
• 2 cups shredded Italian Cheeses (mozzarella, fontina, provolone, asiago, parmesan)
• 2 tbsp Olive Oil
• 8 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2 tbsp Oregano
• 1/2 tbsp Thyme
• 1/2 tbsp Salt
• 3 tbsp Flour
• 2 tsp Black Pepper

Instructions

1. Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees.
2. Chop down vegetables: dice onion, cube butternut squash, and quarter zucchini.
3. Arrange squash and zucchini on an ungreased baking sheet.  Place washed red peppers on a greased baking sheet and oil lightly.
4. Roast vegetables at 400 degrees approx. 30 minutes, checking and turning halfway.  Zucchini may be done sooner.
5. In a stock pot or dutch oven, saute onions and garlic until translucent.  Add spinach and 3 tbsp water, increase heat to medium-high, cover, and cook 3-4 minutes until spinach is wilted.  Reduce heat and saute an additional 3 minutes to remove excess moisture, then set aside in a bowl.
6. In a large saucepan, combine 5 cups milk with salt, pepper, and herbs.  Bring slowly to a boil.
7. Whisk together flour and remaining 1/2 cup milk.  Add to milk mixture and stir over low heat until thickened.  Add 1 1/2 cups cheese and melt over low heat.
8. Once vegetables are roasted, chop zucchini and set aside in a bowl.
9. Shock red peppers in cold water and remove blackened skin.  Cut into small strips and add to bowl with zucchini.
10. Combine 6 cloves minced garlic and roasted squash in a large bowl.  Mash squash and mix with a fork.
11. Assemble lasagna in layers of sauce, noodles, and vegetables:
1. Spread 3/4 cup sauce over bottom of pan.  Cover with noodles, then spread squash mixture.
2. Cover squash mixture in 3/4 cup sauce.  Add noodles.  Cover with zucchini and red peppers.
3. Add 3/4 cup sauce and a layer of noodles.  Cover with spinach and onions.
4. Add 3/4 cup sauce and a final layer of noodles.  Cover with remaining sauce.
12. Bake lasagna 30 minutes at 400 degrees.
13. Remove from oven.  Pre-heat broiler.  Cover lasagna in remaining shredded cheese.
14. Broil 2 minutes until cheese is bubbling and browned on top.
15. Cool 10 minutes before cutting.
16. Serve hot with tossed salad.