Chopped Salad plus HELP for Picky Eaters

The answer to today's question of "Hey Mom! What's for Supper?" is....


Chopped Salad and Bread-sticks ...
                   plus something the picky ones will eat (without making a separate meal) 


Chopped Salad is a meal in a bowl.  Just chop up your favorite salad ingredients into pieces that you could scoop up with a spoon.  This one has chicken and pasta to keep you full.


Chopped Salad
2 Romaine Lettuce Hearts
1 pint grape tomatoes
2 small cucumbers
1 cup baby carrots
1 bunch green onions (both green and white parts)
1 (8 oz) block Monterrey Jack Cheese (experiment with Feta or Bleu Cheese)
3 chicken breasts (grilled or baked)
1 package center-cut bacon cooked crisp, drained and crumbled
1 box small pasta (ditalini, small shells), cooked, drained and cooled
1 small bottle of your favorite Italian Dressing


Chop, Cut or Dice all ingredients into similar size pieces and mix together in a large bowl.  Cover with dressing.  Stir and Serve.


Cook's Tips:
You will want to chop or cut up each ingredient with a knife, food chopper* or salad chopper*.  I don't recommend anything electrical because the pieces that result are often unpredictable.


Cook pasta and drain.  Place in a bowl and stir in 1/2 of the dressing.  This keeps the pasta from sticking while it cools.


Before cooking, cut the bacon into small pieces with scissors.  Then, stir fry in the pan til crisp.  No need to stand and flip bacon forever.  This method is quick and easy.


For a quick cook, I cook my chicken in the Magic Pot* and it's done in 15 minutes.


This recipe makes a lot so I usually add lettuce into half of the mixture and then we often have the other half for the next day and add more lettuce then.  


For the picky ones...
Even the pickiest eaters like this salad.  Things are chopped up so small it's hard to tell what you are eating (well, almost!).  


What I do for my picky children, the ones who can't let anything touch, is this...
1) For any new meal they must have a "No, Thank You" spoonful.  They have to try it and then say "No, Thank You" to get other food.  If they whine, complain, act rude... They go to bed!


2) For this meal, I save out some chicken, pasta and lettuce.  My daughter loves to put her chicken in a lettuce boat and eat it that way.  She also loves her pasta with olive oil and salt but my son loves just plain Ragu sauce.  Raw carrots are always a hit with them both.  


It's easy to hold off on putting some of the items in the salad that I know they will eat if separated.  I don't make totally different food (unless they are under the age of 3 - that's the rule in our house).


* The Magic Pot, Food Chopper and Salad Chopper are all workhorses in my kitchen.  All are products of The Pampered Chef, ltd.  To purchase these products, please contact your personal Pampered Chef Consultant.  If you do not have one, I will be glad to help.