Chicken Pasta Salad

Remember last Friday when we roasted this 6 pound bad boy?

Since then, my gardener and I have eaten chicken sandwiches, chicken tacos, chicken quesadillas, and chicken stew.

Now, it's time for Chicken Pasta Salad!
I love, love, love different kinds of pasta. If I had room, I'd have one entire shelf dedicated to different shapes of pasta!

I usually use Farfalle (say far-FALL-lay) for my chicken pasta salad, but I've had this Vegetable Radiatore for a while, so thought I'd use it today.

It's called Vegetable Radiatore because of the different colors and the unique shape of the pasta. Each color is representative of a vegetable. Spinach is used to color the green pasta; beets to color the red, and so on. The 'radiatore' comes from the Spanish translation of 'radiator'. They do look like little radiators!

You can use any pasta you like for your salad - put it in a pot and boil until it's al dente!

Slice four or five (it's up to you!) green onions.

Then slice up three or four ribs of celery. I like to use the ribs that have leaves on them, too.

After your pasta is cooked, run cold water over it and drain. The cooked pasta isn't as vibrant as it is dried, but that's okay.

Cube the leftover chicken. Oh, and if you don't have leftover chicken, or don't particularly like thighs and drumsticks, you can cook chicken breasts and use that for your salad!

Add the sliced onion and celery to the chicken.

Now, season your mayonnaise mixture. You can use your favorites. I used mayonnaise, Dijon mustard, dried parsley, sour cream, granulated garlic, and Old Bay Seasoning.

Add a little lemon juice.

Mix all this yummy stuff together with some salt and pepper, to taste.

Mix the mayonnaise mixture into the chicken. I like to use a little more mayonnaise and sour cream than is needed at first because as it sits, the pasta will absorb some of it. I don't like dry chicken salad!

This salad is best when left in the refrigerator for several hours or overnight. But if you can't wait (like me!) put some in a bowl, sprinkle on a little paprika for the ta-da factor, and eat it right away with some buttery crackers!

Mmmm... this is good. It's tangy (thank you, lemon juice and Dijon); crunchy (thank you, celery and onion); chewy (thank you, chicken and pasta); and creamy (thank you, sour cream and mayo)! What more could you ask for?

P.S. I usually add some chopped black olives to my chicken pasta salad, but my personal shopper hasn't kept my pantry stocked! (I'm putting him on probation, like right now!)