Mesquite Chicken Pasta Salad

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I love, love, love pasta salad. I like creamy ones or ones with just some type of Italian dressing. However pasta salads are usually laden down with the fattening stuff and not much of the good stuff. I wanted to take the pasta salad and put a spin on it, make it healthier and at the same time create a salad that would please not only myself but my family as well. How could I get more protein in the salad without adding extra fat? I also wanted get more veggies in to my husband, so I needed it to taste exceptionally good as well.

I started thinking and researching recipes, and I decided that I would trade out some of the sour cream, all the mayo, for Greek yogurt. I have my Ranch seasoning that I had made for a previous recipe, fresh veggies and cooked Mesquite chicken. I honestly just decided to put it all together and see how it tasted, if my creation would come out tasty and husband/toddler approved?!

I am happy to report, that this recipe didn’t even last 24 hours in my house. The beauty of this pasta really is how versatile it is, you can use these ingredients below or add in your own favorite vegetables. You can use more or less cheese, or take out the Greek yogurt. Seriously play around with is and see what you can come up with. If you, however, decide to follow my recipe it will turn out tasty, I promise!

Mesquite Chicken Pasta Salad

 

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Ingredients

• 1 Package of Perdue Perfect Portions Mesquite Chicken Breast
• 16 oz Fresh mozzarella
• ½ cup carrot sticks
• 1 container of grape tomato
• 1 box penne vegetable pasta
• 1½ cup fresh broccoli florets only
• ⅓ cup of cilantro chopped
• 4 Tbs of ranch seasoning mix
• ¼ cup if garlic expressions
• ¾ cup of sour cream
• ¼ cup of Greek yogurt plain
• ½ cup of cream or half and half

Instructions

1. Cook chicken breast until thoroughly done. Then allow to rest.
2. Meanwhile cook box of penne according to package directions just until Al dente, and allow to cool.
3. Place all wet ingredients into large mixing bowl along with seasonings, stirring to combine.
4. When chicken and pasta are cooled completely, chop chicken and add along with the pasta.
5. Refrigerate for at least two hours to allow mixture to “marry” together.

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