Tuesday, July 17, 2012

Southwest Pasta Salad


Dear Blog,
I am sorry that I have neglected you for the past 12 days. I realize that you must have missed me terribly and that our time apart was as hard for you as it was for me. I wish that I could tell you a witty reason for my absence, but all I can say is shit life happens. However, in attempts to right my wrong, here is a delicious, colorful and flavor-packed pasta salad.

Love,
Sabrina


Hi friends! Did you miss me? Better yet, do you like pasta salad? I sure do. Pasta salad is a staple for summer in my world. There is just something about chilled pasta mixed with creamy sauce and endless colorful, crisp veggies! When I found a recipe for this Southwest Pasta Salad, I couldn't resist. I tweaked it a bit, just to give it a touch of Sabrina-ness. Trust me when I say that this stuff was well liked. I think Ryan ate over 20 bowls of it. Not so much by choice, I doubled the recipe and ended up with enough pasta salad to feed the Chinese army. But hey, who's complainin' here?



Southwest Chicken Pasta Salad
Adapted from You Made That?
3 cups uncooked shell pasta
1/2 cup of frozen corn rinses and thawed
1/2 can drained and rinsed black beans
1/2 bell pepper chopped
1 large tomato chopped
1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
green onions or red onions chopped (I used both)
2 jalapenos diced
8 slices of cooked bacon chopped
2 chicken breasts grilled and chopped bite size (I used rotisserie chicken)
1/4 BBQ sauce (I used Sweet Baby Ray's Honey Chipolte BBQ Sauce)
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1/4 Ranch Dressing (I used Marie's)

Wash and prepare all the vegetables. Cook and chop bacon, chop grilled chicken or rotisserie chicken. Measure out 3 cups of dry uncooked medium shell pasta. Fill a large stock pot with water about 8 cups, add some salt and boil water. When water is boiling add the pasta and cook according to package directions.

While pasta is cooking mix the sauce together by combining the mayonnaise, BBQ sauce and ranch dressing in a small bowl. In a medium size bowl mix all the veggies together.

In a medium large bowl put cooked and cooled pasta, chicken and bacon in, then add the veggies and sauce. Stir the salad salad well and regrigerate for a few hours.

24 comments:

  1. Welcome back! Sorry life has had you so busy lately. This recipe definitely makes up for your absence, though. ;) It looks delicious!

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    1. Thank you, lovely! If you like pasta salad, you should whip some up for you and that hubby of yours! :)

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  2. Looks DELICIOUS! But, I don't eat mayonnaise. Have any good substitutions?

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    1. I have a few! Do you like Miracle Whip? I know some people love that stuff, so that is an option. Or, you could always use plain yogurt. If not, you could use olive oil and lemon juice.

      If none of these options sound appealing, you could always use extra ranch and BBQ sauce. The pasta shells seem to absorb the sauce mixture well, so that shouldn't be a problem :)

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  3. Spicy and carbalicious! Love it!!

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  4. This pasta salad looks amazing! Delish! I love the addition of BBQ sauce!

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    1. Thank you! And thanks so much for stopping by :)

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  5. Sabrina, Thanks so much for your visit and the lovely comment you left on my blog. I’m so happy to meet you! You have a lovely blog, with great photos and recipes! I have added you to my google reader so I don’t miss any of your posts!

    Your pasta salad looks incredibly delicious, and I’ll be trying it soon! Have a great day!

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    1. Kathy, you are very welcome! I loved your blog and had to say hello. I appreciate your stopping by and leaving such a nice comment! Looking forward to sharing recipes with one another :)

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  6. This looks decadent delicious!!

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    1. Thanks so much for taking the time to comment! :)

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  7. this looks like such a fun and delicious pasta salad! yum!

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    1. I love colorful pasta salads...it makes it fun, for sure!

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  8. Hi Sabrina!
    Just popped in from Kathy's blog and it sure looks like I chose just the right day. Your Pasta Salad looks quite enticing:)

    Thank you so much for sharing...Now I'm off to find you on Pinterest!

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    1. Thanks so much for stopping by! :)

      My Pinterest link is: http://pinterest.com/SabrinaPoehl/

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  9. Whoops, your Pinterest connection doesn't seem to be working.

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  10. I really love a good pasta salad. This one is going on my list to try for sure:-) And yes, life does happen and sometimes a break from blogging is ok!!! Have a great weekend!!

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    1. Thank you, Jocelyn! I'm so glad you are going to give this recipe a try! :)

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  11. Yum! LOVE pasta salad, this one sounds great!

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  12. This sounds amazing and I love your pictures. I am now following your blog :)

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    1. Awe, thank you so much! I always feel my pictures are terrible, so your compliment made me smile! I love new blog friends!

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  13. Wonderful salad Sabrina! I like the idea of mixing bbq sauce and ranch, intriguing!

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