Mandarin Chicken Pasta Salad
I had this at a party and couldnt get it off my mind. Its a fruity Asian chicken salad that even my familys picky eaters enjoy. I bake my own chicken for more flavor, which adds to the prep time, but pre-cooked or canned chicken will also work just fine.
I had this at a party and couldnt get it off my mind. Its a fruity Asian chicken salad that even my familys picky eaters enjoy. I bake my own chicken for more flavor, which adds to the prep time, but pre-cooked or canned chicken will also work just fine.
- 1/4 cup vegetable oil
- 2 teaspoons white sugar
- 1/4 cup orange juice
- 1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil
- 2 cups diced cooked chicken
- 1 carrot, shredded
- 1 clove garlic pressed
- 1 teaspoon finely chopped peeled fresh ginger
- 1/3 cup rice vinegar
- 1 (1 ounce) package dry onion soup mix
- 1 (8 ounce) package bow tie (farfalle) 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 (6 ounce) bag fresh spinach
- 1 (11 ounce) can mandarin orange segments drained
- 1/2 cup sliced almonds toasted
- Carbohydrate 3.90152999983252 g
- Cholesterol 41.5333333333333 mg
- Fat 15.8271333420401 g
- Fiber 1.01699998475761 g
- Protein 15.3059666667588 g
- Saturated Fat 1.97391895897581 g
- Serving Size 1 1 serving (89g)
- Sodium 40.9850000020478 mg
- Sugar 2.88453001507491 g
- Trans Fat 0.858191458452139 g
- Calories 220 calories
Step-by-step
- To make the dressing, whisk together the ginger root, rice vinegar, orange juice, vegetable oil, sesame oil, soup mix, sugar, and garlic until well blended. Cover, and refrigerate until needed.
- Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add the bowtie pasta and cook for 8 to 10 minutes or until al dente; drain, and rinse under cold water. Place pasta in a large bowl.
- To make the salad, toss the cucumber, bell pepper, onion, tomatoes, carrot, spinach, mandarin oranges, chicken, and almonds with the pasta. Pour the dressing over the salad mixture, and toss again to coat evenly. Serve immediately.
When preparation time is strictly capped at thirty minutes, structural efficiency in the kitchen dictates relying on simultaneous multitasking. While bow tie pasta boils in salted water for eight to ten minutes until reaching an al dente bite, the remaining window accommodates whisking a punchy vinaigrette of rice vinegar, toasted sesame oil, and aromatics. Asian-American cold noodle salads gained widespread culinary traction during the late twentieth-century fusion movement, bridging traditional pantry staples like dry onion soup mix with sesame and citrus profiles.
Textural degradation ruins chilled pasta dishes when moisture from watery vegetables leaches into the starch. Seeding cucumbers and thoroughly draining canned mandarin oranges prevent unwanted pooling in the bowl. Toasting sliced almonds in a dry skillet until golden releases essential oils necessary for structural crunch against the tender pasta. Although the recipe calls for two cups of diced cooked chicken, leftover rotisserie meat functions as an efficient substitute without altering the overarching balance of the dish.
