This Pasta salad is a nutritious and light summer meal or side dish. My 4 yr old loves the veggies in this. I regularly use up grilled leftovers (chicken and veggies) in this salad.
INGREDIENTS (for 2 servings):
- 1 (16 ounce) package farfalle (bow tie) pasta
- 1 cup broccoli florets
- 8 ounces fresh asparagus spears, trimmed and chopped
- 8 ounces diced cooked chicken breast meat
- 1 (15 ounce) can kidney beans, drained
- 1 (4 ounce) can sliced black olives, drained
- 1 medium green bell pepper, seeded and diced
- 1/2 pint cherry tomatoes, halved
- 4 ounces crumbled feta cheese
- 1 cup Italian salad dressing, or as needed
- salt and pepper to taste
PREPARATION:
Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add pasta, and cook until tender, about 8 minutes. Add broccoli florets and asparagus to the boiling water during the last 5 minutes. Drain, and run under cold water to cool.
In a large serving bowl, stir together the diced chicken, kidney beans, black olives, green pepper, cherry tomatoes, feta cheese and Italian dressing. Stir in the pasta, broccoli and asparagus. Season with salt and pepper to taste. I like it pretty heavy on the pepper. This salad is best if chilled for a couple of hours before serving.