Dilly Ranch Grilled Chicken & Pasta Salad

Dilly Ranch Grilled Chicken & Pasta Salad

Here’s a hearty pasta salad you can call a complete meal. Tasty grilled chicken and a delicate dill-flavored ranch dressing will have them coming back for seconds.

This recipe came about in the most roundabout way I could have ever imagined.

First off, I like dill.  I buy a plant last month, transplant it and because of the cold weather, it croaked.  I don’t use dill much even though I do like it, so I just resigned myself to buying it when I needed it.  Well, I needed it for some of my Grilled Salmon with Blue Cheese, so I bought some…at an OUTRAGEOUS price I might add.

Next, I like cucumbers, particularly the European kind and they were on sale buy one get one.  However, I almost always end up having to throw at least half of it out.  I’m on a mission here NOT to waste food!

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A dilly of a salad!

So what I did was throw an extra chicken breast on the grill the other night for this because I really had a taste for some dill-flavored chicken.  The two go so well together.  HINT: next time you make chicken soup, throw a few sprigs of dill in with the stock.  You’ll love it!

And since dill and cucumbers are made for each other, I decided to add some hunks of cukes as well.  And the result was delicious and hearty…you call this one a meal.

Dilly Ranch Grilled Chicken & Pasta Salad

 

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Prep time

15 mins

Total time

15 mins

 

Author: Judith Hannemann

Serves: 4-6

Ingredients

• 1 (about 8 oz) large grilled chicken breast
• 1 medium cucumber
• ¼ cup diced red onion
• 8 oz uncooked rotini (or pasta shape of your choice)
• salt & pepper to taste
• additional dill sprigs for garnish
• 1 tbs olive oil
• Dressing:
• 1 cup mayonnaise
• 2 tbs finely chopped dill
• 1 tbs ranch dressing mix (the stuff in the envelope)
• 2-3 tbs milk

Instructions

1. Cook pasta according to package directions for al dente. Drain and transfer to a large bowl. Drizzle with olive oil and toss; set aside.
2. Slice cucumber in ½-inch slices, then quarter. Slice chicken breast about ⅛-inch thick. Add to pasta and toss. Add salt and pepper to taste.
3. Mix all dressing ingredients, starting with 2 tbs of milk. If you desire a thinner dressing, add the additional 1 tbs milk. Stir well and add to the pasta mixture. Toss gently, coating all ingredients with dressing.
4. Chill for about 1 hour. Makes 4-6 servings

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Dilly Ranch Grilled Chicken & Pasta Salad

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