Grilled Chicken Pasta Salad With Caramelized Onion Broccoli And Mango Recipes

GRILLED CHICKEN PASTA SALAD WITH CARAMELIZED ONION, BROCCOLI AND MANGO

Steps:

• Heat gas or charcoal grill. Cook pasta as directed on package; drain. Rinse with cold water to cool; drain well.
• Meanwhile, place chicken on grill over medium heat. Cover grill; cook 15 to 20 minutes, turning once or twice until juice of chicken is clear when center of thickest part is cut (170°F). Cool slightly. Cut into 3/4-inch cubes.
• In 8-inch nonstick skillet, heat oil over medium-high heat. Stir in onion; cook uncovered 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
• Reduce heat to medium-low. Cook 10 to 15 minutes longer, stirring every 5 minutes, until onion is deep golden brown (onion will shrink during cooking). Cool slightly.
• In large bowl, combine pasta, chicken, caramelized onion and remaining ingredients; toss gently to coat. Cover; refrigerate 30 minutes to blend flavors.

PASTA WITH BROCCOLI AND CARAMELIZED ONIONS

Steps:

• Peel the onions and cut into thin slices. Place the oil and onion in a large skillet and cook over medium heat for 20 to 25 minutes, or until the onions are golden brown. Remove from the heat and set aside.
• While the onions are cooking, cut the florets from the broccoli and discard the stems. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil and add the pasta. Cook over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally, for 8 minutes, or until al dente. After the pasta has been cooking for 4 minutes, add the broccoli florets to the pasta water for the remainder of the cooking time. Drain the pasta and broccoli in the colander.
• Add the drained pasta and broccoli, almonds, and balsamic vinegar to the pan of onions and mix well. Season with salt and pepper and serve immediately.
• Balsamic vinegar is made from grapes that have been cooked down to a syrup and then aged. The aging time-anywhere between three and 150 years-is what determines the price. The three-year-old stuff works fine for a college budget (and frankly, we may never in our lives be able to afford the oldest balsamic-it goes for hundreds of dollars an ounce). Cheap but decent balsamic vinegar is nice to have in your pantry-it makes very nice salad dressing when mixed with oil and salt and pepper. Just check the ingredients list to make sure they haven't added caramel or brown sugar to sweeten up an inferior product.

GRILLED CHICKEN PASTA SALAD

Steps:

• Cook pasta following directions on box, drain.
• While pasta is cooking, heat grill or broiler. Sprinkle chicken with lemon juice and grill or broil for about 2 minutes per side or until done. Set aside and let cool.
• When cool, cut chicken into bite-size pieces and mix with cooled pasta in a large bowl.
• Add peppers, onion, scallions and dill.
• In a medium bowl, whisk mayo, vinegar, honey, mustard, sugar, onion powder, parsley flakes, salt and pepper. Gradually whisk in oil.
• Pour mayo mix over the pasta and chicken, toss. Refrigerate until ready to serve.
• *You could add spinach, peas, broccoli or whatever veggies you wanted. Be creative!