Thursday, July 30, 2009

Greek Chicken & Pasta Salad

Another weekend is here & after a long work week nothing pleases me more. I made this salad last weekend & enjoyed it for lunch many days after. I originally enjoyed this at my girlfriend Tammy's house & knew I had to make it. It's not so fattening for today's Not So Fat Friday.


1 pkg Carved Chicken Breast, Original Roasted
1 cup grape tomatoes
1 6oz jar marinated quartered artichoke hearts, drained & coarsely chopped
1/2 medium cucumber, quartered lengthwise, seeded & cut into 1/4 inch slices
1/2 cup pitted Kalamata olives, drained & halved
1/3 cup coarsely chopped red onion
1 cup coarsely crumbled feta cheese
Freshly ground pepper for garnish

For the pasta:
6 ounces (2 cups) penne pasta

For the dressing:
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
1 tblsp finely chopped fresh oregano or 1 teaspoon dried oregano
1/4 tsp pepper, or to taste
1/8 tsp salt, or to taste

Cook the pasta according to package instructions. Meanwhile, whisk together the dressing ingredients in a large bowl. Stir in the chicken, tomatoes, artichokes, cucumber, olives, onion & feta cheese. When the pasta is done, drain well. Rinse with cool water; drain again. Add to the salad mixture & toss. Taste & adjust the seasoning.


{Food for Thought}

I don't like using already packaged cooked meat because of the sodium levels so I used rotisserie chicken instead. To make this even healthier, using whole grain pasta is ideal.

{Click Here to Print Recipe}

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I also want to share some before & after photos of the master bathroom that we have been renovating for the past 2 weeks. There were 16 tracking lights above the mirror, the kind that you see in theatre makeup rooms. They not only gave off so much heat but they were a pain to clean. Who needs that many. So, I am thrilled to have gotten rid of them as well as the old gold trim mirror.


We had taken down the old gold trim shower door a long time ago & temporarily put in a curtain.


The shower tiles were also re-done & we're currently waiting on our frameless shower door to arrive. I see my oasis awaiting after I get out of the kitchen!

19 comments:

Woman Interrupted said...

That pasta salad looks great! I buy a similar version at the deli counter at HEB, but I'm sure this one will be much better. I can't wait to try it!

Huge improvement just with the framed mirrors in your bathroom! Curious...is that a candalier hanging in the background? I'm looking for one like that to go over my tub that doesn't need to be hard wired and wondered where you found it?

Kristina P. said...

I love a good pasta salad!

And I LOVE the mirrors. It looks great!

Sweet Pea Chef said...

Your bath looks amazing!

Pam said...

I could go for a bowl of this tasty pasta for lunch!

The bathroom looks AMAZING! Lucky girl.

Scary Mommy said...

That pasta looks delish! And you are really inspiring me to rip down my horrible bathroom mirror. What a difference that made!

Brenda said...

This salad looks so good and the dressing looks really easy and fresh looking. Congratulations on the remodeling.

Ronda said...

The salad looks great, but the bathroom looks even better! We just did ours too so I'll share pictures later.
Have a great weekend!

Rune said...

That pasta salad looks very good!

Your bath looks great:)

W

missy said...

pasta looks sooo yummy!!!!!!

and the bath is AWESOME!!!!!!
wow what a difference it makes!!!!!

~Marie~ said...

Your new bathroom looks so gorgeous.

Pumpkin Delight (Kimberly) said...

The meal looks delicious and your bathroom is beautiful. It's amazing what a few changes can do. I love the mirrors.

starnes family said...

Fabulous dish. Even more fabulous bathroom!

Unknown said...

Look at you. It looks so good. The bathroom. And the whole wheat pasta salad with chicken too : ) Although, I can't recall a time I have ever come here when everything didn't look to die for delectable!

Deanna said...

I love pasta salad. I was wondering tonight what kind of new recipe I could try. Now I know! This looks delicious.

tiarastantrums said...

the pasta salad look delicious!

Love your redo!

Lisa Anne said...

I love the mirrors. I think they really set-off the room. That's a great idea, I have one big huge mirror in my bathroom. I'm going to have to keep this in mind.

Angela said...

AWesome! The bath looks great!! I love updating rooms like that because it just makes me smile when I love my bathroom and walk in there each morning (currently ours needs updating, but I love the basement one we just did!)

And your Greek pasta sounds great too! I have been eating a lot of Greek salad (without pasta) lately. I've been looking for something I can make at home to save buying lunch most days. I can't wait to try this one!

BonBon Rose Girls Kristin said...

What a fabulous redo

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