Thursday, July 22, 2010

Grandma B's Chicken Pasta Salad

When Grandma first made this for us, we were a little nervous.  Shouldn't have been - like Grandma could ever make anything nasty!?  We ended up eating the entire bowl for lunch!  Every time I've made it for a potluck, it's always a hit. 
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2 c. cooked, cubed chicken
2 Tbs. minced green onion (white and green together)
3/4 tsp salt
1/8 tsp pepper
1 1/2 c. seedless grapes, cut in half
1 c. finely diced celery
1 c. mayonnaise
1/3 c. slivered almonds
1 Tbs fresh lemon or lime juice
1/2 tsp grated lemon or lime rind
1 c. shell or elbow macaroni, uncooked
1 c. whipping cream, whipped

In medium sized bowl combine cubed chicken, onion, salt & pepper.  Mix well.  Refrigerate 2 hours.  Add to chicken grapes, celery, mayo, almonds, lemon/lime juice and rind.  Return to fridge.  Cook macaroni until tender.  Rinse in cool water.  Stir macaroni into chicken mixture.  Whip cream until stiff - sweeten just a bit with powdered sugar.  Fold into chicken mixture.  Refrigerate until time to serve.  Enjoy!
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A variation on this that is tasty is adding garlic cloves or minced garlic to the pasta water while cooking it.  It's a great salad.  Filling, but light.  I don't sweeten the whipped cream much, either.  Hope you enjoy it!

4 comments:

Millie Motts said...

I can HIGHLY recommend this salad. YUM-EE! I make it at *least* once a month. Great for lunches at work.

Erika said...

This is a FABULOUS recipe! I needed a good chicken salad sandwich recipe, so I left out the pasta and reduced the cream/mayo and it was a big hit. Then, when I was tired of sandwich leftovers, I added the pasta and VOILA! a whole new dish.

Jasmyn said...

Yum!! I haven't even tried this yet, and I already know I'll love it - thanks, Elena!

Millie Motts said...

Made it again on Friday. *Almost* lasted me all weekend. ;)