Originally Posted by madamekelly

This is my "go to" for feeding a crowd.
Diabetic friendly Chicken salad-

1 pound any type pasta, cooked, drained and cooled with cold water to stop cooking.
2 cans chopped black olives
2 16oz cans of any type beans ( black, pinto, kidney, garbanzo, etc) drained and rinsed
2 each red and green peppers (chopped small)
1 big sweet white onion (chopped)
4-8 celery stalks (chopped)
6 -8 oz any cheese (grated)
1 small package frozen peas thawed ( i put them in the colandar before I drain the pasta, and the pasta heat thaws them)

Bake chicken breasts ( 6-8) in a foil packet to prevent drying it out, cool and cut into bite size pieces. Using a huge non-metal bowl, mix all together and top with a large bottle of any salad dressing, (DH prefers the zesty italian) but you could use what you like, just remember that any mayonaise based salad dressing must be kept cold!
Just so you know the volume of this salad for a crowd, I use a big white "dish pan" that I keep just for these large recipes, especially taco salad! ( also makes a great bread bowl)

*any meat will work, we have tried tuna, leftover roast, ham, canned salmon (not pretty, but yummy), even ground turkey.
*This salad is a complete meal, so you can make dinner for tomorrow tonight, and spend the time you have guests, actually visiting with your guests.
* you can put the onions, celery, and peppers in the microwave for a few mintes to soften them for babies or people with teeth problems, and it is still yummy!