Labour Day long weekend! My first whole weekend off in basically two months. I seem to have worked all weekends in August and most in July with people being off on vacation at work. I was looking forward to spending most of the time outdoors, however, we got hit with a bunch of wildfire smoke from up North, so the air quality index has been hovering around 8 or 9. The amount of wildfires this year has been insane, and I think it is going to become worse with global warming.
Anyway, Kona doesn't seem to mind. She has been patrolling outside and even caught a mouse yesterday! We seem to have a number of them roaming around the house, and they have been evading our mouse traps. But apparently they cannot evade Kona!
Well back to the dish. This is a pasta salad was something me and my mum cooked up after being inspired by one of our local grocery store's versions. However I would dare to say this is much better (and cheaper!)
You start by making the dressing, which is ginger, orange zest, sour cream and mayo. Let that sit in the fridge for a couple hours just to meld the flavours.
Then get started on the pasta! Cook rotini (or any other short sized pasta), and once it is done put it in a bowl with 1/2- 3/4 C orange juice. You can use the juice from the oranges, as you are going to want to segment them to throw in the dish, and they leave behind all of those wonderful juices. I added in the orange segments right away. Let that cool completely in the fridge.
Add in chopped chicken, green onion, and halved grapes. Then the dressing. Mix it all up and serve cold! Great for a quick easy meal as you can prep everything in advance.
I did not have a big enough bowl that looked "professional" to mix everything in- hence the stainless steel bowl.
Let me know what you think of the recipe!
Orange Ginger Chicken Pasta Salad
Prep time: 30 minutes, plus 3-4 hours of refrigeration time.
Makes: 5-6 servings
Ingredients:
1 C mao
1/4 C sour cream
3-4 tbsp ginger (more or less to taste)
zest of 3 oranges
1/2 - 3/4 C orange juice
half a box of rotini or other short sized pasta (3-4 C cooked)
1 C grape halves
1 C chopped cooked chicken
3 green onions, thinly sliced
Orange segments from the 3 oranges
Instructions:
Combine, mayo, sour cream, orange zest and ginger in a large bowl. Stir until combined and then transfer to fridge until ready to use. I recommend tasting it prior to adding it to the pasta to see if you need more ginger, mayo or even orange zest if you still have some.
Boil a large pot of water, once boiling add your pasta and cook as per instructions on the box. Drain and add to a large bowl with the orange juice. Stir to coat all of the pasta and then transfer to the refrigerator. Let cool 2-3 hours.
Once that has cooled, toss in your chicken, grapes, orange segments and green onions. Then add the dressing until everything is well coated.
Serve cold.
Will keep in the fridge for 4-5 days.
