Saturday, August 1, 2009

The Most Perfect Pasta Salad


For some unknown reason, we keep receiving Martha Stewart's Everyday Food Magazine. I decided to flip through it and found this amazing looking pasta recipe. It was even better than I had anticipated! The recipe calls for shredded chicken. To make it vegetarian-friendly, we simply omitted the chicken and added sauteed portobella mushrooms and spinach to the mix. The yogurt, raisins, and almonds combine perfectly with the whole wheat pasta, parsley, spinach, and mushrooms to make a satisfying and complete meal.


Pasta Salad with Chicken, Raisins, and Almonds (Everyday Food: A Martha Stewart Magazine, July/August 2009)

coarse salt and ground pepper
8 oz. whole-wheat penne rigate (or other short pasta)
2 1/2 cups cooked shredded chicken
1 cup plain low-fat yogurt
1/2 cup golden raisins (optional)
1/2 cup coarsely chopped fresh parsley
2 Tbs. toasted almonds, coarsely chopped
1 tsp. finely grated lemon zest, plus 2 Tbs. fresh lemon juice

1. In a large pot of boiling salted water, cook pasta until al dente. Reserve 1/4 cup pasta water. Drain pasta, then rinse under cold water to stop the cooking.
2. In a large bowl, stir together pasta, chicken, yogurt, raisins (if using), parsley, almonds, lemon zest, and lemon juice. Thin sauce with pasta water if needed. Season with salt and pepper. (To store, refrigerate, up to 1 day.)

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