Warm Spring Pasta Salad with Grilled Chicken
Total time: 30 minutes
I have always disagreed with most 'Pasta Primavera' as they are meant to celebrate spring but insist on using summer vegetables: tomatoes and peppers. This is my version, using only spring vegetables.
Ingredients:
- 4oz green asparagus, 112gr, 4oz
- 4oz snow peas, mangetout, pea pods, 112gr, 4oz
- 1/2 - 3/4 cup fava beans, 125gr, 4.4oz, you'll need about 1lb (500gr) of pods to start with substitute edamame
- 4 green garlic or onion, sliced, including tops, 48gr, 1.7oz
- 1 tbs olive oil, 13.5gr, .48oz
- 2 tbs fresh, snipped chives
- 1 1/4 cups farfalle pasta, 110gr, 3.9oz
- Vinaigrette
- 1 tbs Dijon-style mustard, 15gr, .53oz
- 1 1/2 tbs white Balsamic vinegar, 24gr, .85oz
- 4 tbs good olive oil, 54gr, 1.9oz
- Grilled Chicken
- 2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, 350gr, 12.3oz
- Marinade
- 1 tbs red wine vinegar, 15gr, .53oz
- 1 tbs Worcestershire sauce, 17gr, .59oz
- 2 tbs olive oil, 27gr, .96oz
Instructions:
- Cook pasta according to package directions. When done, drain well.
- Mix marinade and pour over chicken. Let marinate for 15 - 30 minutes.
- Heat a sauce pan of water to boiling.
- Roll cut the asparagus into 1" (2.5cm) lengths.
- Trim the snow peas.
- Remove fava beans from the pods.
- Blanch vegetables, one type at a time, in boiling water: asparagus for 3 minutes, snow peas for 2 minutes and fava beans for 2 minutes.
- Remove each from water and put into cold water.
- Shell fava beans (see notes).
- Cook chicken on barbecue grill, 10 - 15 minutes, or until done or can be sautéed in skillet for about the same amount of time.
- Remove and slice.
- Whisk together mustard and vinegar.
- Slowly drizzle in olive oil, whisking constantly.
- To Assemble:
- Heat 1 tbs olive oil in a large skillet over medium high heat. Add green garlic or onion, asparagus and snow peas.
- Stir-fry for 2 minutes, until hot and starting to brown.
- Add drained pasta and toss to heat through.
- Put into a large bowl, add fava beans, chives and sliced chicken.
- Pour vinaigrette over and toss well to combine. Serve.
Notes:
Roll cut: cut the end off at an angle, roll 1/4 turn and slice at the same angle, roll 1/4 and slice, etc. This gives you interesting looking pieces with lots of surface. It's normally used on round vegetables: carrots, asparagus, etc.
Peel fava beans: they peel like peas, break open the pod and take the beans out. Don't bother with any really tiny ones.
After blanching they will have a whitish outer shell. Just squeeze lightly and the inner, bright green bean will pop out. It may split in half... that's okay.
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Nutrition Information Recipe serves 2 Entire Recipe / per serving Calories: 1740 / 870 Total Carbohydrates: 120 / 60 Dietary Fiber: 20 / 10 Total Fat: 98 / 49 Saturated Fat: 14 / 7 Cholesterol: 224 / 112 Protein: 105 / 52.5 Calcium: 648 / 324 Sodium: 766 / 383 |
General Technical Details and Disclaimer:
Note: Nutrition info assumes 50% of marinade is eaten.
Measurements are actual measurements used for calculation. If there are no values the nutritional numbers were simply too small.
I try to be accurate, but I do not guarantee it. I use 'grams' as the unit of weight; with an approximate conversion to ounces.
My information comes from my own digital, computerized scale
and the USDA Nutrient Data Library: http://ndb.nal.usda.gov/