Wednesday, August 24, 2011

Chicken BLT Pasta Salad



This is a fun main dish salad that makes for a nice summer dinner or would be welcome at any barbecue or potluck. Chicken and pasta, and then the BLT ingredients, combine beautifully together for a satisfying meal.

Cook the pasta in a large pot of boiling water. While it cooks, put the dressing together. Combine the mayo, vinegar



pepper, basil and 1/2 cup of the parmesan cheese




in a small bowl and stir well. Assemble all the other yummy ingredients: bacon, tomatoes, red onion, green onion and chicken.



When the pasta is done, drain it and transfer it to a large serving bowl. Add the chicken,



the onions,



bacon,



and tomatoes.



Pour the dressing on the salad



and stir well to completely coat all the ingredients. Finally, add the remaining parmesan.



You'll notice I didn't use lettuce this time. You can add it when you add the tomatoes and chicken or you can serve the pasta salad on a bed of lettuce, if you prefer.

One year ago: Bok Choy Chicken Salad (another great main dish salad!)
Two years ago: Fried Zucchini

Find more great stuff at Cast Party Wednesday, What's Cooking Wednesday, What's on the Menu, What's on your plate?, Foodie Wednesday, These Chicks Cooked, Made it on Monday, Let's Do Brunch, Turning the Table Thursday, It's a Keeper, Full Plate Thursday, Pennywise Platter.

Chicken BLT Pasta Salad

1 pound bowtie pasta (Farfalle)
1 Tbsp. olive oil
1/2 pound bacon, diced and cooked crisp
1 pint grape tomatoes, halved
1/2 cup chopped red onion
4 green onions, sliced
3 chicken breasts, cooked and chopped
2-3 cups lettuce, chopped
1 cup mayonnaise (light is ok)
2 Tbsp. vinegar
1 tsp. pepper
2 tsp. dried basil
1 cup shredded parmesan cheese

Cook pasta in a large pot of boiling water til al dente; drain. Toss with olive oil.

In a medium bowl, combine mayo, vinegar, pepper, basil and 1/2 cup parmesan. Whisk well to combine.

In a large bowl, combine pasta, chicken, bacon, tomatoes, red onion, green onion and lettuce. Pour dressing over and stir well to coat all the ingredients. Add the remaining 1/2 cup parmesan and stir again. Serves 6-8.

11 comments:

  1. I think this would be perfect to take to work for lunch. Love all of the flavors in this, especially the bacon. Yummy!

    ReplyDelete
  2. What a great recipe! I can't wait to try it :)

    ReplyDelete
  3. Confession: I think I would prefer this to a BLT sandwich.

    Thanks for sharing--I've been trying to figure out what to make for lunch next week.

    Visiting from Turning the Table Thursday

    ReplyDelete
  4. Thank You for sharing at Cast Party Wednesday. I hope you come back next week and join me for another yummy party filled with awesome recipes!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Hi Sara,
    I just love that BLT combination for your salad. This is a great recipe that we would really enjoy! Hope you are having a great week end and thank you so much for sharing with Full Plate Thursday.
    Come back soon!
    Miz Helen

    ReplyDelete
  6. What a wonderful salad! Thank you so much for sharing it with Let's Do Brunch. It would be perfect on any brunch buffet!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Hello again Sara! Just wanted to let you know that I have chosen your wonderful pasta salad as one of my features for Let's Do Brunch this week. Thank you again for sharing it!

    ReplyDelete
  8. I don't really like sandwiches and BLT is one of my favorites.....so this pasta salad is a winner in my book.

    ReplyDelete
  9. This looks so good, and I love all of the flavors. Thanks for joining me for What's On the Menu Wednesday.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Yummy! This recipe looks so good! I love chicken with a creamy sauce :)
    http://hundreds-n-thousands.blogspot.com/

    ReplyDelete
  11. I love pasta salads, and this sounds amazing. This would be perfect for a warm summer day, or a barbecue. Mmmm bacon!

    ReplyDelete

Powered by Blogger.