Hen Pasta Salad with Apricots, Spinach, Bacon, and Feta

Hen Pasta Salad with Apricots, Spinach, Bacon, and Feta is a implausible Summer time salad that makes a light-weight dinner, lunch, or snack. Tossed with the home made Honey Dijon Mustard Lemon Dressing, this wholesome salad is filled with fruit, veggies, protein, and fiber. Will probably be a particular crowd-pleaser at Summer time potlucks, picnics, BBQ events, and cookouts.

Summer time rooster pasta salad

This summer season pasta salad options seasonal produce (apricots), skinless boneless rooster thighs (cooked in scrumptious seasonings), bacon, feta cheese, and really gentle home made summer season dressing! The entire recipe takes solely half-hour and makes a gorgeous appetizer, gentle meal, and even dinner! Your loved ones and mates with love the recent, savory, and candy mixture of flavors! In case you love summer season pasta salads, make sure to try this in style corn pasta salad with bacon and refreshing peach rooster pasta salad with spinach, and tomatoes.

Salad elements

• Hen. I pan-seared skinless and boneless rooster thighs, then sliced them thinly. To make this recipe even less complicated, use leftover cooked rooster, grilled rooster, or pre-cooked rotisserie rooster.
• Pasta. I used penne. You should use any type of short-cut pasta, comparable to fusilli (spiral pasta) or bow-tie pasta (farfalle).
• Apricots. Purchase apricots which might be agency and crisp. They need to be plump and agency (or barely smooth) to the contact, with unwrinkled pores and skin. Keep away from overripe apricots which might be simply indented when touched or those which have cuts or wrinkled pores and skin.
• Spinach is filled with vitamins and antioxidants. It’s excessive in fiber and a superb supply of many nutritional vitamins and minerals. Spinach is a superb supply of nutritional vitamins A and C, in addition to folic acid, iron, and calcium.
• Feta cheese is kind of nutritious, as properly, and is a superb supply of calcium. This scrumptious cheese has a smooth texture and briny taste.
• Cooked bacon. I cooked bacon within the oven to attenuate the cleanup. A superb substitute for bacon is prosciutto. I might rapidly crispy up the prosciutto within the preheated oven at 350 F for about 10 minutes.

Honey Dijon mustard lemon dressing

• Salad dressing elements embody additional virgin olive oil, honey, freshly squeezed lemon juice, and Dijon mustard. I like to recommend utilizing freshly squeezed lemon or lime juice (not the bottled sort) and additional virgin olive oil. You should use both maple syrup or honey.
• Simply mix all of the elements for the dressing in a mason jar and whisk with the fork (or shut the jar with the lid and shake it vigorously to mix the flavors).

What sort of rooster to make use of

• Skinless and boneless rooster thighs. That is what I used for this summer season rooster pasta salad – the darkish meat of rooster thighs is juicy and tender and is normally fairly forgiving to prepare dinner.
• Hen tenders are additionally an ideal selection for this recipe. Be sure to keep away from overcooking as rooster tenders prepare dinner quick.
• Skinless and boneless rooster breasts are likely to dry out sooner, so make sure to watch your cooking occasions intently, making certain that the rooster is cooked by rapidly, with out drying out.
• Cooked rooster. It is a excellent recipe for leftover cooked or grilled rooster.
• Rotisserie rooster. Shred it into small items and use it on this pasta salad.

Cooking ideas

• Cook dinner pasta al dente. To prepare dinner pasta al dente means to prepare dinner the pasta in order that it is smooth but agency on the core of the noodle. It ought to really feel agency to the chew, exhausting underneath your enamel, whereas being smooth but not mushy. This type of texture works greatest with the apricot rooster pasta salad.
• Don’t overcrowd the pan when cooking the rooster. Creating house between the rooster thighs will permit the rooster to sear properly as an alternative of steaming. Use a big sufficient pan to accommodate your entire rooster or work in batches. The cast-iron pan works the most effective!

Recipe ideas and proposals

• Use recent agency apricots. Recent apricots work fantastically for this summer season rooster pasta salad.  Recent apricots have a brief season (Could by August) so make the most of this scrumptious Summer time produce!
• Don’t peel the apricots. Hold the apricots’ pores and skin on – not solely does it add shade and vibrancy to the dish, however why additionally do away with the fiber contained within the peaches’ pores and skin?!  Nonetheless, make sure to wash apricots completely in heat operating water to do away with any filth and particles.
• Use leftover rooster. It is a nice recipe to make use of the leftover cooked or grilled rooster or rotisserie rooster.
• Use completely different greens, comparable to arugula, backyard greens, or lettuce.
• Bacon could be changed with prosciutto.
• Make it gluten-free through the use of brown rice pasta, lentil pasta, chickpea pasta, or some other gluten-free selections.
• Add nuts for crunch and texture. Toasted pine nuts, pecans, almonds, and walnuts will work properly.
• Use a distinct type of cheese. My favorites embody feta, parmesan, Gruyere, and goat cheese.
• Serve it heat or at room temperature. This apricot rooster pasta salad tastes the most effective when it is a bit warmed up.

How you can retailer it

• The apricot rooster pasta salad retains properly refrigerated in an hermetic container for as much as 3 days.
• For greatest outcomes, add spinach solely when able to serve.

Ideas for making it forward

• Make forward the salad dressing. Hold it in a clear glass jar (comparable to a mason jar) with a lid. Refrigerate for as much as per week.
• To make the salad forward, mix sliced apricots, cooked pasta, sliced cooked rooster, sliced cooked bacon (skip including spinach), and feta cheese and blend properly. Add salad dressing proper earlier than serving.
• Add spinach final – proper earlier than serving. In any other case, it can wilt an excessive amount of.

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