I love the simplicity of pasta dishes. You don’t need a long list of ingredients, spices, or long hours in the kitchen to get something delicious on the table. Many of the ingredients could already be in your pantry. What makes it easy is store-bought pasta. You can try this with as many different shapes or color of pasta as you like.

Today I will be making pasta salad with kale, roast chicken (from the store), and a few other veggies in a creamy mayo-based dressing. This mayo-based dressing has a very unique taste from confectioner’s sugar and poppy seed. I think you’ll find that it pairs quite well!

I like to use the baby kale in this recipe since the taste is milder and not as bitter as mature kale. The kale requires no prepping; you just open up a bag of kale and sauté it in oil and garlic. Once you add the kale, tomatoes, olives, and chicken to the mix, this makes a perfect one-pot main dish for lunch or a potluck. This recipe would be perfect to make day after Thanksgiving or Christmas from your leftover turkey dinner.

This cold pasta salad is filled with chicken, tomatoes, kale, kalamata olives, and Parmesan cheese. Everything gets tossed in a creamy dressing and the result is a fresh, slightly tangy pasta salad with plenty of different flavors. Homemade pasta salad is healthier and tastier than store-bought deli pasta salad.

The best thing about this recipe is that even your pickiest eater will eat it without any fuss!

Ingredients

Salad dressing

• 1 cup full fat mayo
• 1/4 cup red onion, small diced
• 1 tbsp Dijon mustard
• 1 tbsp powdered sugar (confectioner’s)
• 1 tbsp white wine vinegar
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp ground black pepper
• 1/2 tsp poppy seed

Kale

• 1 5 oz pkg baby kale
• 1 tbsp canola oil
• 1 tsp garlic, chopped
• 1/4 tsp salt

Pasta salad

• Cooked kale
• salad dressing
• 1/4 cup red onion, diced
• 1 cup seeded tomatoes, med. dice
• 1/2 cup pitted kalamata olives, halves
• 1/2 of a box dried ziti pasta (cooked according to pkg direction, cooled)
• 2 cups rotisserie chicken (from grocery store), large dice
• 1/2 cup + 1/4 cup shredded Parmesan cheese

Instructions

Salad dressing

Whisk all salad dressing ingredients together in a medium size bowl. Set aside.

Kale

Heat oil in a large saute pan. Once hot add the garlic, fry for 30 seconds. Add kale and salt. Stir. Cook till just wilted.

Pasta salad

Place all ingredients except 1/4 cup of the Parmesan cheese in a large bowl. Gently toss everything together. Taste for seasoning. Divide salad on serving bowls. Sprinkle rest of the Parmesan cheese on top of each salad.

Serves 6-8

Did you make this dish? I’d love to know how it turns out! Feel free to like this post and comment or use the hashtag #globaldinein on Instagram.