Holiday weekend potluck ideas
When the Red Gold public relations lady called me and started talking about summer salad recipes that call for canned tomatoes, I will admit that I initially thought it sounded weird. But then I considered how scarce fresh tomatoes still are in these parts around Memorial Day, if they aren’t hydroponic, which can be pricey. Canned tomatoes are still a tasty, nutritious alternative in many dishes, so as long as the recipes didn’t say “Top shredded lettuce with canned tomatoes and ranch dressing,” I decided to give them a chance.
The cookbook Red Gold sent includes several cold pasta salads with canned tomatoes, as well as the old, familiar standby: tomato, corn and black bean salad. A friend of mine used to bring a similar concoction to just about every summer potluck, and it was scarfed down with much enthusiasm.
Their tomato, corn and black bean salad, known as Southwestern Salad, calls for 2 cans of Red Gold Mexican Fiesta diced tomatoes, drained, a 10-ounce package of frozen corn, cooked and drained, 1 can of drained and rinsed black beans, a cup of Thousand Island dressing, 1/2 cup red bell pepper strips, some red onion and ground pepper. They suggest serving over salad greens.
I think I could get on board with that dish, as well as with their Mexican Pasta Salad recipe, which has a creamy homemade cilantro dressing that I could see using in other applications. I’ll post that below, along with an EXTREMELY simple recipe for Pasta Club Salad that calls for packaged chicken strips and boxed pasta salad mix. I’d probably steal the idea and use roasted chicken or grilled breasts instead, with some crumbled bacon, pasta and mayonnaise, but it sure does look easy in a pinch if you’ve got to bring a side to a cookout this weekend and are pressed for time.
Hope everyone has a great Memorial Day weekend!
Pasta Club Salad
Serves 6
1 (10 oz.) package classic ranch with bacon pasta salad
1 (6 oz.) package prepared chicken strips, flavor of choice
1 (14.5 oz.) can Red Gold Diced Tomatoes, drained
1/4 cup sliced green onions
1. Prepare pasta salad according to package directions. Drain pasta.
2. Stir in chicken, tomatoes and green onions. Cover and chill for 1 hour before serving.
Mexican Pasta Salad
Serves 16
Creamy Cilantro Dressing:
1/4 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
1/4 cup mayonnaise
1/4 cup sour cream
1 tsp. salt
Salad
1 1/3 cups (9 oz.) orzo or rosamarina pasta
2 (14.5 oz.) cans Red Gold Diced Tomatoes (Mexican Fiesta flavor), drained
1 (14.5 oz.) can whole kernel corn, drained
1 (15 oz.) can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 cup (4 oz.) shredded Mexican cheese blend
1 cup chopped green bell pepper
2 green onions, thinly sliced
1. For dressing, combine all ingredients in a bowl and mix well.
2. For the salad, cook pasta using package directions. Drain and rinse with cold water to cool; drain again. Combine the pasta, tomatoes, corn, black beans, cheese, green bell pepper and green onions in a bowl and mix gently. Add the dressing and toss to coat. Spoon into a lettuce-lined bowl.
Source: Red Gold Tomatoes.
May 28, 2010 - 10:11 AM
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Mexican Fiesta flavor Red Gold Diced Tomatoes mixed with some tomato sauce and a little sugar makes great dipping salsa, better and much cheaper than jarred salsa. But I can no longer find Mexican Fiesta flavor in Kroger or Food Lion. Do you know any stores that carry it?
I’m surprised you can’t find it, Connie. I know my Kroger only carries a couple of varieties of Red Gold (more Kroger brand and Hunt’s) but I would think you could find all of the flavors somewhere in the valley. I will try to contact the Red Gold PR person this week and see if they can tell us.
UPDATE: I made the Mexican Pasta Salad and it’s a keeper. I used more cilantro than it called for and had to use a different brand of tomatoes (my store did not have the Mexican Fiesta flavor, so I subbed in Kroger brand with jalapenos) and used Steamfresh Southwestern Style corn, frozen and prepared, then drained and let cool a few minutes before stirring in to the other ingredients. I think the corn added even more flavor to this dish. I didn’t have to salt the salad at all. I will not cook my orzo quite as long next time because it was soft, not al dente. Still a delicious and different pasta salad option!!
Great recipes Grilled the corn and yumo
If you can’t find the Red Gold Mexican Fiesta tomatoes, would RoTel work instead?
The only reason I didn’t pick up a can of RoTel is because their cans are significantly smaller than the 14-oz can this recipe calls for. Of course, after you drain the bigger cans you may end up with around the same amount. It really couldn’t hurt to try, Kathy, since it isn’t a recipe that requires precise measurements.
On a completely different note…over the weekend we went with some friends to Finz, that new restaurant on the lake. We had an absolutely awful experience, and after asking around to some people who live out there discovered that it was completely typical.
Why does the lake consistently have such terrible restaurants? I had a similar experience at the Crazy Horse Mexican place…out of 50% of the menu, no/slow service. I read articles about how the lake is hoping for more tourism…from what I can tell, there are no facilities in place to handle the tourists.
I’ve been to the Landing, and it’s good. But if you just want a casual meal by the water in your shorts and flipflops – the options are depressing.
I am the Red Gold Home Economist and wanted to let you know that if the Red Gold Petite Diced Tomatoes Mexican Fiesta is not available in your area that the Red Gold Petite Diced Tomatoes with Green Chilies works just fine. Also if you do not like the hot flavor of the Green Chilies product I have made the recipe with Red Gold Petite Diced Tomatoes and it is very good. I am responsible for developing all the recipes at Red Gold and have made this recipe with lots of different Red Gold products. Please feel free to contact me if I can be of further assistance.