Anticipating the Unexpected


© Viraj Talpade

Unexpected guests! Roomie, his friends and girlfriend, her friends and they all pour in unannounced! Sound familiar? Happens to the best of us! Well, I run to good old, dependable and all-time favorite Betty Crocker. She always has a solution. Visit her site for instant and easy solutions to such dilemmas. I told her what's in my refrigerator and she told me exactly how to use it to turn out some fascinating palate-tinglers!

That's what her interactive site's about. Instead of simply a recipe list, she asks you to fill in a form, telling her what you have in your kitchen and she'll interactively give you recipes you can make using those ingredients. The site features in my top five links list. Be sure to check it out! Meanwhile try these really easy, easy recipes that she told me I could make with my relatively empty refrigerator! And believe me; the guests were real pleased!

Creamy Chicken-Pasta Caesar Salad

Ingredients

1 package Betty Crocker® Suddenly Salad® Caesar pasta salad mix
1/3 cup mayonnaise
1 to 2 teaspoons milk
1 can (5 to 6 3/4 ounces) chunk chicken or tuna, drained
1 cup bite-size pieces Chinese pea pods or snap pea pods
Tomato wedges

Method

1. Fill 3-quart saucepan 2/3 full of water. Heat to boiling. Add contents of Pasta-Vegetable pouch to boiling water. Gently boil about 12 minutes or until pasta is tender; drain. Rinse with cold water until chilled; drain.

2. Stir together Seasoning mix, mayonnaise and milk in large bowl. Stir in pasta-vegetable mixture. Stir in chicken and pea pods. Toss with Croutons and Parmesan topping.

3. Spread salad onto serving platter. Place tomato wedges around salad. Refrigerate any remaining salad.

Fruit Slaw

Give yourself a break! Buy preshredded coleslaw mix and skip the cabbage-shredding step. The shredded carrots in the mix will add extra color and nutrients to the sweet-tangy salad.

Ingredients

3 cups finely shredded green cabbage
1 cup finely chopped Granny Smith apple
1/4 cup dried cranberries or cherries
1 can (8 ounces) crushed pineapple in juice, well drained and juice reserved
2 tablespoons unsalted sunflower nuts

Method

1. Prepare Yogurt Dressing (below). 2. Mix cabbage, apple, cranberries and pineapple. Stir in Yogurt Dressing until mixture is well coated. Sprinkle with sunflower nuts

Yogurt Dressing

1/2 cup Yoplait® 99% Fat Free plain yogurt
2 tablespoons reserved pineapple juice
1 tablespoon honey
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard

Mix all ingredients.

Chicken Curry

We really like chicken with this creamy pasta, but use tuna if you like.

Ingredients

1 package Betty Crocker® Tuna Helper® mix for creamy pasta
3 1/4 cups boiling water

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