Recipe - Lauren's Chicken Pasta Salad

Lauren’s Chicken Pasta salad

(Kuddos to my friend, Lauren, for sharing her family recipe)

 

Ingredients:

 

Cooked chicken (we used a rotisserie chicken, but you can pan sear, grill or bake 2-3 chicken tenderloins) 

Bow tie pasta (16 ounce bag)

Red onion (yes, they actually look purple)

Celery (3-4 stalks)

Black olives (not for me!)

Cherry tomatoes

Cucumber

Italian shredded cheese pack that includes (Romano/Asiago/Parm cheese)

Basil (dried or fresh leaf)

Lettuce

Croutons

Lite Mayo

Caeser Dressing. (This can be substituted with Ranch dressing instead of Caeser)

Olive Garden Italian Dressing

Garlic powder, onion powder, black pepper

 

Get the water boiling for the bow tie pasta - cook it all the way - took about 12 minutes after we added it to boiling water.

Chop up the red onion - not finely chop (I only used half of a onion)

Chop the celery - not fine (Lauren showed me how to devein the celery, but that’s an art I haven’t perfected at all)

Chop the cucumbers - bite sized

Chop the chicken - bite sized

Chop the basil - finely if it's not the dry basil

All of this can go into a large serving bowl

Once the pasta is fully cooked, strain it and run it under cool water.  You want the pasta to be cool to the touch and then use a paper towel to dry it.

Add it to the bowl

Measure quarter cup of each of the following: Mayo, Caeser, Italian dressing and add to the bowl, mix well

Add in the cheese - about half a bag - start with half a cup and go from there, I like a good amount of cheese

Add in the garlic/onion powder (go lighter on the onion powder, because you already have red onions) and black pepper and touch of basil

Put some in a side dish and try it for taste.

I put the tomatoes in the dish on the top, but some people might not like the cherry tomatoes, so you can put those in a separate dish, same with the the black olives and the croutons (so they don't get soggy)

 

Shred some lettuce.  Put the shredded lettuce on the plate, put the chicken salad on the lettuce, add tomatoes and croutons (olives if you choose to) Serve cold

 

Best to make this the night before serving so it’s cold and all of the flavors have a chance to blend well.