Chicken-Penne Salad with Green Beans

This meal was really light and the veggies were good, but overall it was kind of bland. I think that in order for this to really shine, you’d have to season up your chicken really well. I cooked a bunch of chicken at once and did it pretty plain so that I could make this one night, and a chicken salad for lunch the next day. The chicken salad was much better than the pasta dish.

Chicken-Penne Salad with Green Beans
Cooking Light August 2002

To quickly prepare the beans, trim just the stem ends, leaving the tapered blossom ends intact. Line up 5 or 6 beans at a time and cut them roughly the same length as the pasta.

2 cups uncooked penne (tube-shaped) pasta
2 cups (1-inch) cut green beans (about 1/2 pound)
2 cups shredded cooked chicken breast
½ cup vertically sliced red onion
¼ cup chopped fresh basil
1 ½ teaspoons chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
1 (7-ounce) bottle roasted red bell pepper, drained and cut into thin strips
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1 tablespoon cold water
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon bottled minced garlic
¼ teaspoon black pepper

Cook pasta in boiling water 7 minutes. Add green beans; cook 4 minutes. Drain and rinse with cold water; drain.

Combine pasta mixture, chicken, onion, basil, parsley, and bell pepper in a large bowl, tossing gently to combine.

Combine oil and remaining ingredients in a small bowl, stirring with a whisk. Drizzle over pasta mixture; toss gently to coat.

Yield: 4 servings (serving size: 2 cups)

Nutritional information per serving:
CALORIES 384(23% from fat); FAT 9.7g (sat 1.8g,mono 5.7g,poly 1.5g); PROTEIN 26.9g; CHOLESTEROL 49mg; CALCIUM 59mg; SODIUM 866mg; FIBER 2.6g; IRON 3.2mg; CARBOHYDRATE 47.8g

MacGourmet Rating: 3 Stars