Lou Rocco's Cold Chicken Pasta Salad

Yes, my husband's best buddy really is named Lou Rocco. This is a recipe his brother Mickey came up with. First Lou, then I modified it to suit our tastes. Like any salad, there is no precision in this recipe. Add more of what you like, less of what you don't.

12 oz pasta noodles (I like spiral)
8 oz refrigerated spinach and ricotta tortellini (cheese tortellini is good too)
2 medium chicken breasts
6 roma tomatoes
1 large bell pepper (or, if you're me, not)
8 oz feta cheese (I like a one container tomato and basil, one container of plain)
25 green olives (or black...)
Extra virgin olive oil
4 tbsp lemon juice

Spices for chicken:
2 bay leaves
dash of thyme
dash of rosemary
dash of pepper

Pre-chop chicken into bite sized pieces. Cook chicken in a frying pan, adding spices to both sides, until chicken turns golden brown. Put chicken in fridge to cool.

Cook pastas according to package directions. Rinse, put it in fridge to cool.

Thinly chop olives, tomatoes and peppers. Toss with noodles in a large bowl.

Spices for salad:
3 tbsp crushed parsley
3 tbsp dried basil (fresh works too)
1 tbsp pepper
1 tsp oregano
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp celery seed
1 tsp Italian seasoning

Add all spices to salad, along with cheese. Thinly coat salad with olive oil to taste. Add lemon juice. Stir - and stir again.

Chill until ready to serve. Stir before serving. You may need to add more olive oil, since the pasta soaks it up.

Note: This makes a HUGE batch, but keeps for about a week.

Alan's Pasta Salad

So, one evening my in-laws are entertaining in their backyard and I bring this pasta salad. My brother-in-law loves the stuff! I think he was on his third helping when he looked down at his plate, spit out his mouthful of salad and announced "There's peas in this stuff!" A bright one he is, one who hates peas.

1/4 cup water
1/2 cup sugar (no, you may not use splenda)
2 cups mayo (light is fine, fat-free even)

Bring the sugar and water to a boil, stirring constantly. Boil for one minute. Allow syrup to cool.

Once cool, stir the syrup into the mayo. Use it as a dressing over whatever ingredients you like. Mine usually includes:

1 lb of spiral pasta (or elbow macaroni)
A diced celery stalk or two, for crunch
A diced carrot or two, for color
Frozen peas (unless I'm making it for Alan)
Shredded or diced cheddar cheese
Crab Meat (when I have some)

I think the original recipe suggested tuna or onion as well. Really, it's hard to screw up the proportions. Feel free to make the dressing in advance for a picnic so it's easier to keep in your cooler.