Pasta Salad

Happy 4th of July 2021 everyone! It warmed my heart today to listen to Whitney Houston's rendition of the national anthem, and to sing all the patriotic songs at church, and to see the town of Edgewood filling the night sky with fireworks!!! It has been bombastic tonight! This is the second summer they have canceled parades or other fun activities due to covid. 

Anyway, what would summer be without pasta salad! This is my favorite recipe and it makes a giant bowl of colorful pasta-salad, filled with veggies. My kids love it too. Especially Dallas and Leia.

So start making this delicious pasta salad. You need to:

Season three chicken breasts with garlic powder, Lawry's seasoned salt, and Monterey Steak Seasoning. Oil a pan and bring to med-high heat. Cook chicken on each side, turning occasionally until both sides are browned and chicken is cooked through. Once cooked, remove chicken from pan to a plate and cover with foil for 20 minutes. (This lets the juices redistribute and keeps the chicken moist). Then dice the chicken, making sure to remove any creepy parts. 

For the salad ingredients, combine in a bowl:

the 3 chicken breasts you just cooked and diced

pasta, up to a pound 

1 cup cherry tomatoes, rinsed, optional 

1 (12 ounce) bag frozen sweet peas (add to bowl frozen to help cool salad)

1/4 c. red onion, or a whole bunch of green onions, washed and sliced
1 large orange or yellow bell pepper, washed and diced into bite-sized pieces
1 cup of diced broccoli, rinsed and streamed 5 min until bright- shock with cold water
2 Tbsp capers, ootional
pepper or red pepper flakes, to taste
1/4 c. bacon bits, if desired
1/4-1/2 c. Parmesan cheese, optional

a splash or two of Olive Garden Italian dressing 

a scoop or two of mayo (optional)

half a Ranch powder dressing packet

1Tbsp dill weed

*For the pasta: Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add to that, a bit of salt and oil and a pound of pasta, any shape you like. *Add broccoli above to the boiling pasta for the last 5 minutes. Cook pasta to al dente. Drain, everything and rinse with cold water until pasta is cool. 

Add all ingredients to a bowl and fold together until well mixed. Cover air-tight and refrigerate a least an couple hours. 

 *If this salad will be sitting out in heat for more than 10 minutes it needs to be surrounded by ice. Also consider only dressing it with Italian dressing, not any mayo or milk ingredients. 

It turns out different every time because I change ingredients, but always good. I love the ingredients above but you can change it up with other ingredients such as: asparagus, diced cheese, minced garlic, raisins, fresh mozzarella, pepperoni, diced salami, cucumber, olives, artichoke hearts, red onion, zucchini, avocado, pesto, pine nuts, etc. They'd all be good