Mandarin Chicken Pasta Salad

Happy Tuesday! I hope everyone is having a good week so far- I know it's only Tuesday but hey.. I'm linking up this week with a tasty pasta salad that works all year long.

Ingredients:
For Dressing
1 tsp finely choppen, peeled fresh ginger
1/3 cup rice vinegar
1/4 cup of orange juice
1/4 vegetable oil
1 tsp toasted sesame oil
1 (1 oz) package dry onion soup mix
2 tsp white sugar
1 clove garlic, pressed




For Pasta
1 (8z) package of bow tie or fusilli pasta
1/2 cucumber- scored, halved lengthwise, seeded and sliced
1/2 cup diced red bell pepper
1/2 cup coarsely chopped red onion
2 diced roma tomatoes
1 carrot, shredded
1 (6oz) bag fresh spinach
1 (11 oz) can mandarin orange segments, drained
2 cups of cooked chicken
1/2 cup sliced almonds, toasted

* my boss does not like cucumbers or red pepper, so I omit and subsitute with radishes. We also don't add almonds because of nut allergies, and I'm lazy so I just chop the carrots. I like extra oranges as well. *

Directions:
1. Make the dressing by whisking together the ginger root, rice vinegar, oj, vegetable juice, sesame oil, soup mix, sugar, and garlic until well blended. Cover, and refrigerate until needed.

2. Cook your chicken- I like to salt and pepper the chicken and bake in the oven at 350 for about 20-30 mins. Let it cool and then chop it up. Typically I use 2-3 chicken breasts. 

3. Meanwhile bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add the bow tie pasta and cook for 8-10 minutes or whatever the directions on the box say. drain, rinse and put in a large bowl.

4. Add your salad ingredients by tossing in the cucumber, red bell pepper, onion, tomatoes, carrot, spinach, oranges, chicken and almonds into the pasta. Pour the dressing over the mixture and toss again to coat evenly. Serve immediately- or cover and put in the fridge until you are ready to enjoy!

Probably not the recipe to post during passover but whatevs. I'm eating my matzo like I just don't care.