Yummy Pasta Salad

Happy Saturday, everyone! I wanted to share with you the pasta salad recipe that Billy and I took for a spin last night. We wanted something light and fresh and this hit the spot!

I originally pulled this recipe from a magazine, that I'm guessing is Family Circle--the only clue I got was the familycircle.com on the bottom corner of the page. This was a reader recipe that was sent in and I LOVE any kind of pasta salad so I decided to try it out.

Grilled Chicken Pasta Salad

1 pound rotini

2 pounds thin-sliced chicken cutlets

2 tablespoons lemon juice

1 large sweet red pepper, cored, seeded, and diced

1 large green pepper, cored, seeded, and diced

1 medium-size red onion, halved and thinly sliced

2 scallions, trimmed and thinly slided

2 tablespoons minced fresh dill

1 cup light mayonnaise

1/2 cup red wine vinegar

1/2 cup honey

1 teaspoon prepared mustard

1 teaspoon sugar

1 teaspoon onion powder

1 teaspoon dried parsley flakes

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

1/2 cup canola oil

1. Cook pasta following package directions. Drain.

2. While pasta is cooking, heat grill pan or broiler. Sprinkle chicken with the lemon juice and grill or broil for about 2 minutes per side or until internal temperature reads 160 degrees on an instant-read thermometer. Set aside and let cool.

3. When cool, cut chicken into bite-size pieces and mix with cooled pasta in a large bowl. Add diced peppers, onion, scallions, and dill.

4. In a medium-size bowl, whisk mayo, vinegar, honey, mustard, sugar, onion powder, parsley flakes, salt and black pepper. Gradually whisk in oil.

5. Pour mayonnaise mixture over the pasta and chicken and toss. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

Now I have to admit that I improvised a little on the recipe. I didn't have a red onion, so I used Vidalia onion. I did not have fresh dill, onion powder, or dried parsley flakes. I used dried dill weed in my sauce. And I only used half of the oil. I like how mine turned out but I'm curious how different it would taste if you follow the recipe exactly.

Things I liked about it:

• The creamy yet tangy and light dressing.
• The fresh crunch of the veggies.
• The pasta--duh.

I'm not really a chicken fan, but I do like how it added some good protein in there. I think it would also be great with shrimp.

Billy mentioned this would be a good dish for a summer picnic, and I completely agree. This is one of those dishes that ABSOLUTELY tastes better the next day, when the sauce has had time to hang out and all the pasta is nice and cold.

Next up: Homemade Oatmeal Cream Pies!!!