salad

UPDATE: This contest is now closed.

A good summer pasta salad is a staple of summertime barbecues.

I recently had the chance to try two of Suddenly Salad’s Pasta Salad varieties by Betty Crocker. And just in time, too. Last week was a picnic filled week for our family. The last day of school finally arrived and there were celebrations galore (maybe too many). I took the opportunity to whip up my boxes of Suddenly Salad and see what the consensus was.

Suddenly Salad comes in six flavors:

Suddenly Salad Classic
Suddenly Salad Ranch & Bacon
Suddenly Salad Caesar
Suddenly Salad Creamy Parmesan
Suddenly Salad Creamy Italian
Suddenly Salad Chipotle Ranch

I opted for the Classic and Chipotle Ranch.

On the day of the picnic I set out to prepare the cold pasta salad recipes early in the day, so they would have ample time to refrigerate and cool down before the evening. The box says that you can serve immediately, but who likes lukewarm pasta salad? And refrigerating allows the flavors time to “sink in”, resulting in a better tasting pasta salad.

I figured making the Suddenly Salad wouldn’t take very long – after all the word “suddenly”, in my mind, implies instantaneous. I figured all the ingredients to make these pasta salad recipes would be in the box. So, I was somewhat surprised when upon reading the directions I discovered that I would need to add oil and water to the Classic variety, and mayonnaise and milk to the Chipotle Ranch variety. Luckily, I had everything I needed on hand.

Preparing the pasta salad was a straightforward process. Each box contained a packet of noodles and dehydrated vegetables combined together and a seasoning packet. You add the pasta and vegetables to boiling water and cook for the time specified. I stuck to the package directions and the pasta cooked to a perfect consistency. While the pasta is cooking, you combine the seasoning packet with the ingredients specified (like the oil and water, or mayonnaise and milk).

When the pasta is finished cooking, you drain it, rinse it with cold water, and mix it with the prepared seasoning mix.

Easy. Refrigerate if you like and serve.

Everyone at the picnic enjoyed the pasta salad. The kids seemed to prefer the Classic variety – which was a mix of tri-colored pasta spirals and Italian type seasonings. I thought it was a little too sour, kind of lemony, and a bit salty.

And the adults overall preferred the Chipotle Ranch, which had a little kick to it but not too spicy.

Suddenly Pasta Salad Giveaway

If you would like to try your own box of Suddenly Salad for free, leave a comment on this post. I have five coupons to give away, each winner will receive one coupon that is good for one free box of Suddenly Pasta Salad. I will choose five winners at random. Please leave your comment by midnight on Sunday June 29, 2008.

This contest is subject to my contest rules which you can read here.