Once again I searched “Cooking Light” for a dinner that would work on a 90+ degree day. If it was up to me it would be completely vegetarian, but, shoot, me, I don’t want my husband to (shoot me). I loved making my own dressing with OJ and lemon juice and making the pasta in advance so I didn’t feel rushed to chop and dice everything in time. A little too much black pepper for the teen but Ed voted to have again, as did I. My edits are in italics below:
Ingredients
- 3 cups uncooked farfalle (bow tie pasta) (about 8 ounces)
- 1/3 cup fresh orange juice
- 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice (I used what I had in the fridge already, from concentrate)
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 1 tablespoon stone-ground mustard
- 2 teaspoons sugar
- 1 1/4 teaspoons salt
- 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1 1/2 teaspoons rice vinegar (I used Champagne vinegar and it was gooooooooooood)
- 2 cups shredded cooked chicken breast – about 2 breasts) (I just pulled it apart by hand, not with knives, and discarded all of the yummy skin)
- 1 1/2 cups seedless red grapes, halved
- 1 cup thin diagonally cut celery
- 1/3 cup finely chopped red onion
- 1/3 cup coarsely chopped walnuts, toasted
- 3 tablespoons chopped fresh chives
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
Preparation
- Cook pasta according to package directions, omitting salt and fat; drain. Cool completely.
- Combine orange juice and the next 7 ingredients (orange juice through rice vinegar) in a large bowl, stirring with a whisk to combine. Add pasta, chicken, grapes, celery, red onion, walnuts, chives, and parsley; toss gently to combine.
Maureen Callahan, Cooking Light
MARCH 2004