This is a cheater meal – using a boxed product to get you ready quickly. It has directions for using both fresh or freeze-dried olives.
Quick Pasta Your Way
Ingredients:
- 1 box Suddenly Pasta Salad (Classic Flavor)
- 2.6-ounce pouch chicken breast or 4.5-ounce can with pop top.
- 2 Tbsp olive oil or 2 packets
- ½ cup freeze-dried olives (pack in a snack zip top bag)* (see below for fresh option)
- 1 oz string cheese (1 stick)
At home:
Pack the olives in a sandwich bag and tuck in with the pasta salad kit, oil, chicken and cheese.
In camp:
Bring 4 cups water to a boil in a 2 Liter pot. Add in the dry pasta and the olives. Cook for time on package.
Meanwhile in the empty olive bag add 3 Tbsp water and the oil, add in the dry dressing mix. Stir till dissolved. Add in the chicken, with any juices, stir to break up.
When the pasta is done drain carefully. Add it back to the pot, stir in the sauce and dice the cheese in.
Serves 2.
Notes:
Consider this recipe an open ended recipe. Use what you like and can find. Like pepperoni? Use it! Or whatever veggies you want, freeze-dried green peas and red bell pepper are great options. Make it vegetarian friendly with no meat.
For the cheese carry single servings of string cheese that are individually wrapped. You can use other flavors of cheese as desired.
You can use olives from a gourmet olive bar – many grocery stores have these now. Get about a ½ cup to a cup of your favorites. Pack in a sandwich bag (they are shelf stable) and cut up in camp. Add to the sauce sliced up (don’t boil them with the pasta).
For minimal cleanup you can cook the pasta as described, and then make the sauce in a new gallon freezer bag. Add the hot drained pasta to the bag, and stir to coat. No pot cleanup that way!
To have a cold pasta salad, instead of hot pasta, place the prepped pasta in a gallon freezer bag (see above for easy mixing), seal tightly and stash in a cold stream or snow bank. Make sure birds don’t see you stashing it – a hungry raven will run away with it, but it can be a great dinner on a hot night in summer, if you can chill it down.
