Wednesday: Chilled Lemon Chicken Pasta Salad

It was about 90 degrees today where I live - probably one of the hottest days we've had this summer. If there is one thing I hate, it is eating hot food when it's hot out. So, I decided that for dinner #3, we would have a pasta salad with chicken, nice and cold by the time my boyfriend is home from work and ready for dinner.

Chilled Lemon Chicken Pasta Salad
1 Chicken breast (I use a pre-marinated lemon chicken. However, you can marinate your own chicken in lemon juice, herbs, salt, and pepper. I just like the shortcut!)
1 tbl Olive oil (or use spray, which is almost better for this recipe)
2 cups wide egg noodles, or any other flat-ish noodle
1 cup of frozen vegetables (I had a mix of peas, corn, carrots, and green beans, but you could use any you want. Bell peppers would be great, but my boyfriend isn't a fan!)
2 tbl minced black olives


Butterfly the chicken so it is nice and thin. Cook it with olive oil in a pan at about a medium-medium high heat.
Boil the noodles according to directions. In the last 3 minutes, add in the frozen vegetables so that they can cook, too. Drain the pasta and vegetables and place in a bowl. Add the olives.
When the chicken is done, remove the pan from the heat and remove the chicken from the pan, placing it on a plate to cool in the refrigerator. After it is cooled enough to handle, cut it into very thin strips and add it to the pasta.
Turn the heat down to low-medium low heat. Now it is time to make the sauce for the salad.


The Pan Sauce
The goodies in the bottom of your pan
1/2 cup orange juice
1 tbl crushed garlic
2 tbl tomato paste
1 tbl juice from pepperoncini jar (if you don't have pepperoncinis, then use white or red wine vinegar. It cuts through the sweetness of the OJ and adds a unique flavor)
4-5 sage leaves
4-5 sprigs of thyme
Salt and pepper to taste

Add the orange juice into the pan while stirring to gather up all of the browned bits on the bottom. Add in the garlic and tomato paste while stirring vigorously. Add in your herbs here, and not before, because they make it more difficult to disolve the garlic and tomato paste. Add in your salt and pepper to taste, and then allow to reduce by about a third so that the sauce is slightly thick but still very runny. Remove the herbs from the sauce.
Pour your sauce over the still warm pasta and vegetables. Stir it all together, coating your noodles well. Place in the refrigerator and allow to cool completely.


The Pasta Salad Sauce
What? Two sauces? I know, it's crazy, but the pasta will absorb most of the pan sauce because it is warm. I personally don't like a dry pasta salad, so adding this similar sauce before serving really enhances the flavors and gives that essential moisture. Plus, it's really yummy!

3/4 cup orange juice
2 tbl mayonnaise (I use the kind made with olive oil, and I highly recommend it. It's lighter and the flavor is better, and it mixes well)
1 1/2 tbl tomato paste
1 tbl pepperoncini juice
salt and pepper to taste


Whisk the mayonnaise into the orange juice. It may look a little clumpy, just try and get as much of that out as possible. It won't be 100% smooth, but that's okay. Add in your other ingredients and whisk together.
Place this in the refrigerator and don't add it to the salad until you're about to serve!



Serve the pasta on its own, or over spinach or arugala. Delish!