Broccoli Chicken Pasta Salad

I've been pretty sick for awhile, again, hence the blogging hiatus. Dan's been doing the majority of our cooking, but I am finally working my way back into the kitchen. I picked up some broccoli thinking I'd use it for an Auggie recipe, but made sure to get enough for the whole family. Why not cold pasta salad? It's perfect for the temperatures we've been having lately, and with chicken and whole wheat pasta you end up with a pretty balanced meal.

This web site was my inspiration after a Google image search: http://koshercuisine.blogspot.com/2009/01/pasta-salad-with-broccoli-and-pine-nuts.html .. I've never seen this web site before, but it had a few key needs, namely no diary and no MSG-laden spice packets or salad dressings. Beyond that, I used my own methods and went with what we had in the fridge, and it turned out wonderfully enough to deserve its own blog post.

Ingredients

• 1/2 lb whole wheat rotini or other juice-holding pasta
• 1-2 heads of broccoli, cut into small pieces
• 1 chicken breast, filleted
• 1/4 c olive oil
• 2+ cloves minced fresh garlic
• 1/4 c chopped nuts
• The above recipe recommends pine nuts or almonds, but I only had mixed nuts and they worked splendidly
• 2 strips bacon, finely chopped
• 1/2+ c crasins
• 1/3 c chopped parsley
• 2 Tbsp finely minced red onion
• 1/2 - 1 c mayonnaise
• 1/4 c +/- white wine vinegar
• salt and pepper

Preparation

Cook pasta according to directions, rinse with cold water.

Bring another pot of water to boil and blanch broccoli. I made sure it was still firm and bright green when I was done - so no longer than a minute and a half. Scoop out broccoli and rinse with cold water.

Bring the broccoli water back to a boil and add the halved chicken breast. Poach until cooked through, rinse with cold water, and then chop into 1/2" pieces.

Heat olive oil in the pasta pot, saute minced garlic and chopped nuts for a few minutes over medium-low heat. (I didn't brown the garlic.)

In a large bowl mix the following ingredients together: Pasta, broccoli, diced chicken, olive oil/garlic/chopped nuts, diced bacon, crasins, minced parsley, and minced red onion. Add mayonnaise, white wine vinegar, and salt and pepper to taste.