bowtie chicken caesar salad*

Hello everyone out there!! Do you remember me?? I have been busy Busy BUSY! But I have some great news! My summer menus are completed and underway! Oh, and not to mention we have welcomed two new staff into our department! I should have taken their pictures today so that I could introduce them better. Joan is our new Food Service Worker and so far she is so great to work with and has the best personality! Colton is our new dishwasher and he has been working a little over a week and has been so awesome! I have heard nothing but positive things about both of them from all around campus and I am so excited when they are out of training so that they can hang out with us all day! I will try and remember to get a picture tomorrow, and also still need to get a picture of everyone in my department so that you all can see a face to the name :). And I just want to tell you how EXCITED I am to FINALLY be fully staffed! I have been fully staffed for about 2 weeks in the 13 months that I have been the director of food services. It is really like a huge sigh of relief! Now I need a vacation :).

So with the launch of our new menus and a huge sports banquet tomorrow for the students, we were SWAMPED today! Also, we fit in going to lunch at Applebee's for Jamie's, Jackie's and Colton's birthdays. We are a bit behind haha. Anyway, today Karen made this amazing bowtie chicken caesar salad, we made the cake for our better than sex cake tomorrow for the banquet, we made some chicken tikka masala for dinner, a birthday cake for one of the students, and I made some peach bbq sauce for our grilled chicken with peach bbq sauce tomorrow for the banquet. As well as our regular fruit cutting and salad bar making in between. Phew..that's a lot of stuff! Oh, and I forgot that Sarah and I ran to the store to buy a ton of vegetarian food as well as some necessities for the banquet and the upcoming camping trip this weekend. My days have been this crazy for what seems like ever, so this is my excuse for my lack of blogging existence. Forgive me, but I am BACK!

I love the Caesar dressing that we use at work. It is actually just the Sysco brand, but it is my favorite! I have tried a couple of different kinds whether it be a bottle I bought from the store or at a restaurant, and none I like as much as our plain old Sysco kind. I guess I could attempt to make some, but to put anchovies or whatever they use would totally freak me out. I know they are in there, but I don't want to see them be put in there. You know what I mean? Anyway, when I saw this recipe for a bowtie chicken caesar salad I was THRILLED! I have seen this meal on the menu at the Pizza Factory, and heard that it was amazing, so couldn't wait to try it out for myself. I thought pasta mixed in with salad sounded like a crazy idea, but it totally works!

Bowtie Chicken Caesar Salad
adapted from The Girl Who Ate Everything

2 bunches romaine lettuce, chopped

1 bag home-style seasoned croutons
1 bag toasted almonds (I forgot to order almonds, so left them out this time...oops!)
2 chicken breasts, grilled with salt and pepper
2 cups bowtie pasta, cooked
4 - 6 oz. shredded parmesan cheese
Caesar Dressing

Toss all the above ingredients with Caesar dressing right before serving. Serves 20-25.

 Yummy yummy in my tummy!

Stay tuned for some of the recipes for our banquet tomorrow. On the menu is caesar salad, grilled chicken with peach bbq sauce, roasted red potatoes (a pre-blogged about recipe), asparagus with balsamic browned butter, garlic bread, New York cheesecake with raspberry sauce, and better than sex cake!

-alyssa*