Chicken and Dried Cherry Pasta Salad

I am warning you, please be aware that this...is...addictive. It'll be hard to put your fork down, your friends will want more if you share (and you should!) All kidding aside, this is a copy-cat recipe inspired by D'Amico & Sons restaurant and catering. There are locations I believe in MN and FL, if you come accross one, stop by and pay them a visit, their food is delicious.

This pasta salad is perfect for get-togethers and for work lunches and for everything else. You can also make this with turkey as the original recipe does.

Chicken and Dried Cherry Pasta Salad
(From: D'Amico and Sons )

POPPY SEED DRESSING:
2 cups mayonnaise
2 tbsp Dijon mustard
1/4 cup powdered sugar
1 oz champagne vinegar
1 oz water
1/2 tsp black pepper, ground fine
1/2 tsp poppy seeds
2 tsp kosher salt

SALAD:
1 lb rotelle pasta cooked
1 tbsp olive oil
8 oz cooked and diced chicken breasts (into 1/2 inch cubes)
5 oz dried cherries
1/2 cup yellow onions, medium diced
1/2 cup celery, medium diced
1/2 cup toasted sliced almonds

Mix together all the ingredients for the dressing completely; set aside.

Cook the pasta al dente, drain, toss in olive oil and cool completely.

Combine pasta, chicken, cherries, celery and half of the almonds in a large bowl. Mix in dressing to desired consistency. Taste for salt and adjust if necessary.

Transfer to a serving dish and top with the remaining almonds.

Wild Rice Salad

This is a recipe I rely on each Thanksgiving as each of us are responsible for bringing a side dish to the big dinner. The first time I brought it, everyone seemed to enjoy it. The second year I was strapped for ideas and busy with school so I brought it again. Same thing next year, so this year when turkey day came around again, I thought to myself, why change a good thing, and now I look forward to turkey day for many reasons, among them is the wild rice salad.

This 'salad' is a variation of several recipes and ideas I've seen over the years on websites and at restaurants. I use 'salad' in quotes only because when I was first put in charge of bringing a 'salad' to family dinners for holidays and whenever, I thought a salad was only referring to the green, leafy kind. I thought...how am I going to get a dressed leafy green salad down to where our family is an hour and a half away still in good presentable condition?! Well little to my knowledge, a 'salad' can also refer to other things like a pasta salad, or in this case a wild rice salad! Now I know, and knowing is half the battle (thanks GI Joe.)

When I first prepared this, I was adding things I knew would be tasty together, so I guess I consider this a recipe of my own creation. If you make one like this also, cheers, you have excellent taste in my opinion, maybe we can get together sometime :)

Wild Rice Salad

1.5 cups uncooked MN wild rice (prepared as directed on the package)

5 strips of thick cut bacon

1/2 cup toasted almond slices

3/4 cup Craisins (dried cranberries)

1/2 cup chopped green onions

Rinse the wild rice and prepare as directed on package. Wild rice takes a long time to cook in my opinion, and sometimes I still have to strain it at the end of the cooking stage. The final stage of cooking should yield a firm and chewy rice. Once prepared, set aside until needed.

Using a sharp knife, dice the bacon and add to a cold saute pan. Once that is complete, move the saute pan to the stove top and brown the bacon. Upon completion, add the wild rice to the saute pan with the bacon, do not remove any of the drippings (unless there is A LOT!) A lot of the flavor in this dish is lent from the bacon drippings, so we want to use up all of that yummy bacon flavor. Add the Craisins and almonds to the pan and stir to incorporate.

Garnish with any remaining almonds and green onions and enjoy!