Bacon Cheeseburger Pasta Salad

When you want a bacon cheeseburger, but it's too hot to cook outside OR inside. It tastes exactly like a bacon cheeseburger if you add all the optional ingredients, right down to the sesame seed bun.

Pasta salad ingredients: 

• 16 oz short pasta, such as macaroni, rotini, or ditalini
• 16 oz ground beef or ground turkey
• 1/2 red onion
• 8 oz bacon, cooked and crumbled, or 2.5 oz package precooked and crumbled bacon
• 1 cup halved cherry tomatoes
• 1/2 cup finely diced dill pickle (about 1 large pickle)
• 8 oz (2 cups) diced or shredded Cheddar or American cheese
• Shredded lettuce (optional)
• Croutons (optional)
• Yellow mustard (optional)
• Sesame seeds (optional)

Dressing ingredients: 

• 1 cup ketchup
• 1/2 cup mayonnaise
• 1 tbsp dill pickle juice (optional)

Note: You could also substitute store-bought burger sauce or Thousand Island dressing. 

Directions: 

1. Cook the pasta as directed, then for 1 minute longer. Drain and rinse, then refrigerate until chilled. 
2. Season the ground beef or turkey as desired and cook until completely done and temperature reaches 165F (or your preference). Drain and rinse. 
3. Slice or dice the red onion according to your preference. Use raw, or saute over medium-high heat for 2-3 minutes or until slightly translucent. Note: if you prefer cooked onions on your burger, you could cook the onion at the same time as the meat - just add the onion when the meat is close to being done. 
4. Add the cooked ground meat, the red onion, the cooked bacon, the cherry tomatoes, the dill pickle, and the cheese into the pasta. 
5. Combine all dressing ingredients and combine thoroughly. Add the dressing to the container of pasta salad and combine thoroughly. 
6. To serve, serve in bowls. If desired, top with shredded lettuce, croutons, additional ketchup or mayonnaise, and/or mustard. 

Note: Most of the time when I make this, I cook burger patties and then dice them in to around 1/2" dice. While not every bite will have burger, the ones that do will really taste like a burger. 

Jambalaya Pasta Salad

I've had a hankering for my jambalaya for a couple weeks now, but it's too hot for something hot, so I decided to turn it into a chilled pasta salad. This makes a BIG batch, and not sure how well it will freeze, so you may want to cut it in half. Since jambalaya is generally a little spicier, I usually add a bit of hot sauce to mine - any Cajun/Louisiana-style hot sauce would be great on this. 

Ingredients:

• 1 lb elbow macaroni, farfalle, or other smallish pasta
• 12-16 oz smoked sausage, split lengthwise and then cut into 1/4" slices
• 12-16 andouille sausage, split lengthwise and then cut into 1/4" slices
• 8 oz finely diced ham
• 1-2 lb chicken, diced
• 2 red bell peppers, diced (1/4" - 1/2")
• 2 green bell peppers, diced (1/4" - 1/2")
• 2 small onions, diced (1/4" - 1/2")
• 2-3 stalks celery, diced (1/4" - 1/2")

Dressing: 

• 2 cups combined of Greek yogurt, sour cream, and/or mayonnaise. I used 1 1/2 cups Greek yogurt and 1/2 cup sour cream the last couple of times I made it. 
• 3 Tbsp mustard. Use a spicy or Creole mustard if you can; I've been using Mike's Hot Honey Dijon. 
• 3 Tbsp red wine vinegar
• 1 Tbsp smoked paprika
• 1 Tbsp Cajun seasoning like Tony Chachere. If you want to control the sodium, there are tons of recipes for making your own. 
• 1 tsp Worcestershire sauce

Directions: 

1. Cook the pasta. Drain but don't rinse, then refrigerate until cold. 
2. In a large pan, and working in batches, brown the sliced sausage, 3-5 minutes per batch. Add the sausage to the pasta to chill. Add the diced ham as well. 

3. In the same pan, and working in batches, brown the chicken, 4-6 minutes per batch or until internal temperature reaches 165. Add the chicken to the pasta to chill. 

3. In the same pan, and working in batches, sauté the vegetables until crisp-tender, 2-3 minutes per batch. Add the vegetables to the pasta to chill. 

4. To make the dressing: Mix all ingredients together in a medium bowl until completely combined. If it's too thick, add 1-2 Tbsp of water to the dressing.

5. Mix the dressing into the pasta salad mixture and refrigerate until ready to serve.