A Week of Salads: Chicken Caesar Pasta Salad

I. Hate. Bees.

The grilled chicken for the salad was nearly ruined by the dastardly things. The insanely smart people that built this house put in an all-wood carport (unpainted, of course). The wood serves to be a feeding frenzy for carpenter bees. They have most of their tunnels right under the spot that the hubby parked (and chained down) the grill. There weren't any bees out when I started grilling the chicken and they actually didn't show up until it was time to pull the chicken, which was when 3 HUGE carpenter bees appeared. I took a deep breath, ran to the grill, grabbed the chicken as fast as I could, and sprinted back to the house.

I waited about 10 minutes for the bees to go away before I could turn the grill off. Sorry for wasting propane hun!

So it's Night 5 of A Week of Salads. This is just a traditional Caesar salad with some chicken and pasta thrown into the mix. I love pasta, I can figure out how to put it in pretty much anything.

I'm going to tell you a secret. I haven't bought Caesar dressing since I discovered the recipe that I've been using for a couple of years. It's yogurt based, so it's a lot healthier than prepared Caesar dressing. It tastes exactly like regular Caesar dressing though.

It looks like real Caesar dressing too.

A Week of Salads is over. I've pretty much been eating salad non-stop all week since I've been eating leftover salads everyday for lunch. I'm pleased to report that every salad kept well for next-day leftovers. I'm looking forward to a little weekend splurging now :)

Ingredients:
1 large chicken breast
drizzle of olive oil
salt and pepper
garlic powder
6 oz penne pasta
4 cups romaine lettuce, chopped
1/2 cup croutons
6 tbsp fresh grated Parmesan cheese
1/3 cup plain Greek yogurt
1 tbsp fresh lemon juice
1 tbsp olive oil
2 tsp red wine vinegar
2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp anchovy paste
1 tsp Dijon mustard
1 garlic clove, minced
1/2 tsp black pepper

Directions:
1. Drizzle chicken breast with olive oil. Season with salt, pepper, and garlic powder. Heat gas grill over medium-high heat. Grill chicken breast 12-15 minutes, or until done. Remove from heat, let rest for at least 5 minutes. Roughly chop and set aside.
2. Cook pasta according to package directions. Run under cool water until pasta is cold. Drain and place in a large mixing bowl.
3. Add romaine lettuce through Parmesan cheese to the mixing bowl. Add chicken to mixing bowl.
4. In a separate, smaller mixing bowl combine Greek yogurt through black pepper. Stir vigorously with a whisk. Drizzle dressing over salad, toss well to combine. Serve immediately.

Creamy Caesar dressing brought to you by Cooking Light