Chicken Pasta Salad

This is a super easy pasta salad recipe from Street Reach Ministries.

INGREDIENTS
1 lb cooked chicken, chopped
4-6 cups cooked pasta
1 cup Good Seasons Italian dressing
1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
8 oz feta cheese
1/2 cup fresh basil, chopped

DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 400. Season chicken with salt, pepper and basil. Cook for 30 minutes. Boil pasta. Drain and rinse with cold water. Mix Good Seasons Italian dressing per package instructions. Chop basil. Mix all ingredients and chill for 2 hours. Serves 8-10 people.

OPTIONS

You can also replace the chicken with pepperoni, replace the feta cheese with mozzarella cheese, or add broccoli to make it a little more kid friendly.

Easy Chicken Tetrazinni

OK ladies, we haven't had a recipe posted in over a year and a half---that's really sad! I am finally getting around to sending out my Chicken Tetrazinni recipe and think that we should get this site hoppin' again. I need some new recipes!! Here is mine--

Easy Chicken Teterazinni

*Note - 1 recipe makes 2 large casserole dishes

15 ounces vermicelli pasta

1/2 cup chicken broth

4 cups chopped cooked chicken

10.75 oz can cream of mushroom soup

10.75 oz can cream of celery soup

10.75 oz can cream of chicken soup

8 oz carton sour cream

6 oz sliced mushrooms, washed well

salt and pepper to taste

2 oz shredded Parmesan cheese

2 cups shredded cheddar cheese

Cook the pasta and drain. Return to the pot and toss with chicken broth.

Mix the chicken and next 7 ingredients (all but the cheddar) in a large bowl. Add the mixture to the pasta.

Spoon the casserole into 2 large prepared casserole dishes (I use a 9x13 pan). Evenly sprinkle the cheddar cheese over both casseroles.

At this point you can cover one casserole and freeze for later use or if you are having a big group, bake both.

Bake covered with foil for 30 minutes at 350. Remove the foil and bake an additional 5 minutes.

Momma Herzing's Cajun Chicken Pasta

Here it is, as promised! And oh so simple!!

Ingredients:

1 box penne pasta, cooked and drained (al dente)

8 chicken tenderloins or 4 chicken breasts

2 jars Ragu alfredo sauce

1 can Rotel tomatoes, drained

Emeril's Southwest Essence*

*I've had a hard time finding this seasoning in TX and usually have to just stock up when I go to IL. Anyhow - I think that any southwest-type seasoning would do the trick.

1. Season chicken on both sides with Southwest Essence and grill on Foreman grill until cooked completely. Cut into chunky pieces or slices - whatever you prefer.
2. Mix cooked pasta, chicken pieces, Rotel tomatoes, and one jar of the Alfredo sauce. Add about half of the second jar at this point. I sometimes just throw in a couple more shakes of the Emeril Southwest Essence, too. (Note: it's important to fully embrace the Emeril spice by yelling "BAM!!" as you throw the spice from behind your back. It makes a difference - you'll be surprised.)
3. Pour into casserole dish and pour the rest of the Alfredo sauce over the top.
4. Sprinkle top with Southwest Essence.
5. Bake and 350 degree for 30 minutes or until heated through.

This is super easy to make the night before and heat up for dinner the next day. Just adjust the cooking time if the pasta is going into the oven directly from the refrigerator.

Chicken and Spinach Pasta Toss

Here is the recipe, straight from the Kraft Food and Family Recipe Website:
(Click HERE for link)

Spinach Pasta Toss

Prep Time: 5 min

Total Time: 25 min

Makes: 6 servings, 1 cup each

What You Need!

• 1 can (14-1/2 oz.) Italian-style diced tomatoes, undrained
• 2 cups multi-grain penne pasta, uncooked
• 1 cup water1 pkg. (9 oz.) baby spinach leaves (7 cups)
• 1 cup KRAFT 2% Milk Shredded Italian* Three Cheese Blend

Make It!

1. BRING tomatoes, pasta and water to boil in large saucepan; stir. Cover; simmer on medium-low heat 10 min. or just until pasta is tender.
2. ADD 1/2 of spinach; simmer, covered, 2 min. or until wilted. Stir. Repeat with remaining spinach.
3. SERVE topped with cheese.

Kraft Kitchens Tips:

For a spicier dish, add 1/4 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes or hot pepper sauce along with the tomatoes.

WEIGHT WATCHERS Greek Cinnamon Chicken!

This sounds weird, and I was hesitant to try it, but it is YUMMY!!!!

1 T olive oil

2 onions, chopped

4 garlic cloves, minced

Six 4-ounce skinless chicken thighs (tastes better with bone-in chicken. If using boneless, it won't need to cook for as long)

One 14 1/2 ounce can diced tomatoes (no salt added)

1/4 cup dry white cooking wine

2 bay leaves

1 cinnamon stick

1/2 Tsp ground cinnamon

1/2 Tsp black pepper

1/4 Tsp salt

6 cups hot cooked couscous

1. In a large nonstick skillet, heat the oil. Add the onions and garlic; cook, stirring as needed, until softened, about 5 minutes.

2. Add the chicken, tomatoes, wine, bay leaves, cinnamon stick, ground cinnamon, pepper, and salt; bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer, covered, stirring as needed, until the chicken is cooked through, about 30 minutes. Discard the bay leaves and cinnamon stick. Serve the couscous, topped with the chicken and sauce.

Per Serving: 392 Calories, 7 g Total Fat, 2 g Sat. Fat, 94 mg Cholesterol, 207 mg Sodium, 48 g Total Carbohydrate, 3 g Dietary Fiber, 30 g Protein, 62 mg Calcium

Weight Watchers info: 1 serving provides: 2 Breads, 1 Fruit/Vegetable, 3 Protein/Milks, 1 Fat
Points per serving: 8

Found in the cookbook, "Weight Watchers Simply the Best"

Cream of Mushroom Baked Chicken

Ingredients:
chicken breasts
1 can cream of mushroom
1 can chicken broth
paprika (optional)
garlic powder (optional)

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350.
2. Line a baking dish with foil. Spray with non-stick cooking spray.
3. In a small bowl, mix 1 can of cream of mushroom and 1 can of chicken broth. Mix.
4. Sometimes I like to put a few dashes of paprika and garlic in the bowl and mix that in as well. Sometimes I will just use the garlic powder.
5. Pour mixture into baking dish.
6. Clean chicken and lay into dish. I push it down to where the mixture will cover the chicken.
7. Bake for 1 hour.

*I really like to make this chicken with mashed potatoes or rice. I use the mixture as a gravy on the potatoes or rice. This is Keith's favorite way I bake chicken. It is so creamy and yummy!!

Enjoy!!

Whole Chicken cooked by the Indirect Method

1.5 to 3 pound broiler-fryer chicken
Vegetable oil
Salt and pepper

Rinse chicken thoroughly with cold water and pat dry with paper towels. Lock wings behind back and tie legs together securely. Brush entire outer surface with oil and season generously with salt and pepper. Place chicken on cooking grate directly above drip pan. Cook 1 to 1 1/4 hours to an internal temperature of 180 F. This method of cooking on the grill produces a very juicy and tender chicken. If you need more detail about this method of cooking or a picture, you might look on the Weber web site. I got the recipe out of the Weber book that came with my grill.

Indirect Method

For cooking whole meats such as roasts, turkeys, or hams, place equal amounts of charcoal on both sides of the kettle. This way heat rises, reflects off the lid and kettle surface to cook food above, below and all around like a convection oven. Ignite charcoal. Leave lid off until coals have a light coating of grey ash, about 30 minutes. Place drip pan in center of the lower grate. Position cooking grate in kettle with handles directly over coals. Place food on cooking grate directly about the drip pan. Cover kettle. It is important in Indirect Cooking to have the coals burning equally well on each side before beginning to cook. Occasionally when the coals are started, one side will get a better start than the other. If this happens, move the charcoal from one side to the other so the heat is evenly distributed.

Chicken Pot Pie

A box of pie crust mix (just add water) or two frozen pie crusts
2 cans of mixed vegetables
1 can cream of chicken soup
some chicken (I get a rotisserie chicken and use some of that. You can use chicken breasts or canned chicken chunks, whatever really)

Put the pie crust in
Fill with other ingredients
Put pie crust on top
Bake at 400 degrees for about 40 minutes or until top crust is brown.

*Jess: Post your recipe like this and we can see if it is the same. Yours was for more people and I want to know what you do. :)

Chicken and Rice Casserole

Ingredients:
1 can Campbell's Condensed Cream of Mushroom soup
1 can chicken broth
3/4 cup uncooked long grain white rice ( I love Texmati rice...it has a blue label)
1/4 tsp. paprika
1/4 tsp. ground black pepper
2-4 chicken breasts

*That is the base ingredients. Sometimes I like to add onion, celery, or carrots.

1. Preheat oven to 375.
2. Using Olive Oil, grease a baking dish (I usually use my oval corning ware dish with a lid)
3. In the baking dish, mix mushroom soup and chicken broth.
4. Next add rice and half of the paprika and pepper. Mix.
5. If you wanted to add extra ingredients like onion, celery, or carrots; chop those up and add to dish.
6. Wash off chicken breasts and lay in dish.
7. Sprinkle the rest of the paprika and black pepper on top.
8. Bake covered for about 50 minutes in oven.

*This is a recipe that I have tweaked over the years, and I have come to really like it this way. But of course, I might continue to play with it. :)
*If you have any questions just let me know!

Parmesan Chicken

Some kind of chicken (hehe-specific huh?) I use like 4 or so chicken strips but you could also use whole chicken breasts. Depends on how much you want to make. If you use less chicken strips since maybe its just for two of you, you could use less of all the other ingredients. You can really eyeball all of the ingredients, just as long as you have some of each it doesn't really matter.
1 stick melted butter (you could probably use egg or milk to be healthier. it just needs to make it stick.)
2 cups cracker crumbs (I put saltines in a zip lock and beat them until crushed)
1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
1/3 cup grated romano cheese (you find it in a thing like parmesan cheese but its red)
1/4 cup chopped parsley
1 teaspoon garlic salt
salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 350. Dip the chicken in butter then in a mixture of the remaining ingredients. (You can put all the dry stuff in a zip lock gallon bag and just rub the chicken around in there.)
Place chicken in a greased large baking pan (9 x 13 glass pan works well). I spoon all the leftover topping on the chicken since sometimes it doesn't stick that well. Bake uncovered at 350 for 1 hour.

This is okay reheated...but with the butter, sometimes it is more greasy reheated, so I just usually cook as much as we will eat at the time. But I bet if you used egg it would be better reheated since it would cut down on the fat.

King Ranch Chicken Casserole

Tortilla chips
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 can cream of chicken soup
2 cups shredded cheese (I used the mixed Monterey or Mexican blend)
Cooked shredded chicken (I use about 3 or 4 boneless breasts)
1 can Rotel, drained (I sometimes put 2 because I like tomatoes and the spice)
1 small onion, chopped (Depending on the size, I only use half since Brent isn't a huge onion fan.)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix all ingredients except chips and cheese. Crush tortilla chips, enough to cover bottom of your dish, very fine. Cover with the mixed ingredients. Top with cheese. Bake until hot and bubbly.

I have not made this in awhile, but typing it up makes me want to. The one thing I am not certain of because I haven't made this lately is the size dish this calls for. I have made it in the 9x13 and the 9x9, so when I do make it or if you try to make this leave a comment on which size dish you used.

White Chicken Chili

2 lbs chicken quarters (When I made it for home group, I used 4 boneless chicken breast.)
3 cans Great Northern Beans
2 cans diced tomato & green chiles (I used mild Rotel)
2 tablespoons garlic
1 teaspoon chili powder
3 teaspoons cumin
1 teaspoon oregano
5 cups chicken broth
3 cups shredded Monterey Jack cheese
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pepper
1 cup chopped fresh cilantro (I only put half a cup.)
1 cup (8oz.) sour cream

Boil chicken for at least 1 hour. De-bone and shred chicken. Strain broth. Bring broth to a boil. Add chicken, beans, tomato and green chilis, garlic, chili powder, cumin, oregano, salt, pepper, and cilantro. Gradually, stir in cheese, making sure it is melted. After cheese has melted, add sour cream and make sure that melts all the way. Simmer for about 15 minutes. Serve topped with Monterey Jack cheese.

When Larra made this at the lake, we had a 20 plus people there, so she served it over rice to make it go further. It was a great with rice too if you wanted to add something.

The recipe as is makes A LOT. I would say it serves about 10, but that is a guess based from serving it at home group that night.