Happy Monday everyone. Today is one of my favorite days of the month, I know I say that every month, but it’s true – I just love Secret Recipe Club reveal day! This month I was assigned Suzanne, she blogs over at Thru the Bugs on My Windshield. When I first started searching through her archives I was determined to make something sweet to share, you know I love a good baked treat. But I also had a baby shower to attend a few weeks ago, so as soon as I saw the recipe for this Chicken Asparagus Pasta Salad, I knew I had found a winner!
First off, this salad is amazing! It’s true. What’ s not to love about pasta salad filled with delicious chicken, asparagus, cherry tomatoes, capers and black olives. Plus it tastes just as divine cold as it does warm and it makes a great main dish or side. I just made a few slight alterations to Suzanne’s recipe, I opted for a bow tie pasta to fit the “Bow ties & Mustaches” theme of the baby shower, chose capers instead of green olives and cut out the chicken stock.
Confession… before this dish I don’t think I have really ever made anything with capers, which to my surprise I loved. I’m not even sure why I was so shocked to find that I enjoyed them? But the point is, they’re delicious!
The salad was a big hit at the baby shower, so I was glad that I had set a small bowl aside to take pictures of the next day; because I didn’t bring much home that night. Luckily that also meant I had some yummy salad to enjoy for lunch that day as well! This salad is one of those that only seems to get better as it has more time to sit and allow the flavors to marinate, so you could even make it a day or two in advance if needed.
Whether you make it for yourself or to share with friends, I hope you’ll enjoy it as much as we did!
Chicken Asparagus Pasta Salad
Prep
Cook
Total
Yield 8 -10 servings
Ingredients
- 1 14 oz box of bow tie pasta
- 1 lb chicken tenders
- 1 Tbs Italian salad dressing mix
- 2 Tbs olive oil
- 1 lb asparagus, trimmed and chopped into 1” pieces
- 1 10 oz pkg cherry tomatoes, sliced in half
- 1/2 c onion, finely chopped
- 1/2 c pasta water
- 1 Tbs vinegar
- 1 small can black olives, sliced
- 1 small jar of capers, drained 2/3 of the way
- 2 Tbs cracked black pepper
- 2 c fresh grated parmesan cheese
Instructions
- Cook the pasta according to package directions, reserving 1/2 c of the pasta water.
- Season the chicken with the Italian salad dressing mix; bake at 350º for 20 minutes, until cooked through.
- In a large skillet add the olive oil, asparagus, onion and garlic, cook until tender, about 8-10 minutes.
- Add the tomatoes and continue cooking for an additional 2-3 minutes.
- To a large mixing bowl add the pasta and asparagus mixture.
- Roughly chop the chicken and add it to the pasta mixture.
- Add the pasta water, vinegar, black olives, capers, black pepper and 1 1/2 c of the parmesan cheese.
- Stir the mixture together to distribute the ingredients evenly and top with the remaining 1/2 c cheese.
- Serve warm or chill for 2-3 hours and serve cold.
Notes
recipe adapted from Chicken Asparagus Penne Pasta Salad by Suzanne Collier
Courses salad, main dish, side dish
Want to find out more about the Secret Recipe Club? Click here for all the info and you can check out all the tasty recipes from Group B by clicking the links below:
I’ve had Suzanne’s blog before and how the heck did I miss this recipe. Looks delicious and great SRC choice.
Ha ha Lea Ann, I don’t know, it was buried pretty deep in her archives! But it is delicious, you are going to love it 🙂
This does sound delicious. I make a lot of chicken salads during the spring and summer….but usually cold. It is a refreshing dinner on our very hot days! I am pinning this one.
Thank you Kate, enjoy!
This sounds perfect for the warm weather. Can’t wait to try it
You’re going to love it Colleen.
YUM! This is the perfect meal for this time of the year! My kids would gobble it up!
Thank you Heather, I hope one day when my kids are older they too will gobble it up 🙂
This looks fantastic! Thanks for sharing with the SRC.
thank you Camilla, it is delicious!
Well, I’m glad you had your shovel handy! This recipe is VERY deep in the archives. It was the very first blog post I ever wrote AND always at the top of the list for most popular, year after year. I’m so very, very glad you and your shower peeps enjoyed it. And I LOVE that you used capers instead of green olives! I love them, too, and can see how they would be just perfect for this dish. Glad you enjoyed it as well. Fabulous blog post and outstanding photography! Well done! And thank you!
Thank you Suzanne, I didn’t realize this was your first post, that makes me even more excited about choosing this recipe! We all loved it, thank you for your kind words 🙂
I like the addition of olives. They always add such a nice little surprise in salad. Sometimes I put sliced pickles in salad too, or other pickled vegetables.
What a beautiful pasta salad! I’ve never seen anything similar. Definitely pinning to make this summer.
You selected a great recipe Emily and this is one I definitely want to try myself! Pinning.
Thanks Deb, you’re going to love it!
This pasta salad sounds like it’s got some great flavors! I like how you coordinated with the bow ties too. 🙂
Thanks CJ, it was really a great salad!
This sounds fantastic! Awesome choice.
Thanks Danielle, it is one of my new favorites for sure!
I’ve only had capers once or twice but I really like them too! I made chicken piccata one time and I needed capers for that so that was the second time I had them but first time I cooked with them. I should probably cook with them more often.
Your pasta salad looks great. It’s always fun to find new recipes to enjoy, especially when they’re pasta salad recipes!
Thank you! I was the same way Julie, I need to start finding new ways to add them into my meals, I loved them in this salad 🙂
This pasta salad looks delicious enough to make me want to try capers again. That is a perfect dish for a summer picnic!
Thank you Shelley, I hope you enjoy it too
Perfect for this time of year. Thanks for sharing.
Thank you!
This salad looks so pretty and it sounds delicious! Love the capers and asparagus in here – such a wonderful salad for spring 🙂