I love that the day after Tess's birthday party I had leftover Tarragon Chicken in my refrigerator. I usually just eat it cold the next day or warm it, but the day after her party I came up with an even better plan--pasta salad! You know how I love a good pasta salad, and I think I came up with a good one with the party leftovers! It has a really fresh taste, thanks to the spinach, and a bit of a tang, thanks to the mustard, and is a one-bowl meal thanks to the chicken. I'm so happy to have another thing to do with this chicken recipe. Now I'll always make more than enough so I can follow up with this pasta salad.
I know it seems like I should be sharing some sort of stew given the month of October, but we've been having summer like weather, so here you go! Click for the recipe.
Orzo Pasta with Tarragon, Chicken, Artichoke Hearts and Parmesan
8 oz orzo pasta (cooked according to package directions and drained)
1 big handful of fresh spinach leaves (or about 2 cups), shredded (bunch it together with your hand and slice carefully on a cutting board)
1 can artichoke hearts, quartered (14-16oz)
2 c. cooked Tarragon Chicken, in 1 inch cubes
3/4 c. parmesan cheese
Mustard Tarragon Dressing:
1/4 c. white wine vinegar
1/3 c. olive oil
1 t. dijon mustard
1 t. sugar
1 t. dried tarragon
salt and fresh ground pepper (about 6 turns of the grinder for each, or to taste)
Combine all ingredients for the pasta salad in a large bowl.
To make dressing, blend all ingredients in a blender until thorougly mixed and a bit creamy looking. This dressing is such a great bright green color!
Pour dressing over pasta and fold to combine. Serve. Yum! It's great room temperature and cold. At least that's my opinion!
7 comments:
We LOVED your last recipe so much, we said we could happily eat it at least once a week! So, I was very excited to see this one today which looks & sounds just as good. Thank you so much for sharing these delicious meals - they seem to all have my favorites in them.
That sounds absolutely delicious ... I'm pinning it.
Yum! I'm thinking about copying you soon. Thanks for the fresh idea.
mmmm...this is exactly what I want to eat for dinner!
Thanks for this great recipe, we tried it last evening and all turned out fine, I think this will be becoming a family favorite ! x
This is a smart use of leftover Tarragon chicken. What would you consider pairing it with?
Had some leftover orzo from a soup recipe and remembered this post. Made it tonight with a few additions/substitutions (red bell pepper, red onion, shredded zucchini for the artichoke hearts), but followed the dressing to a T. So happy to find tarragon in my spice cabinet (hardly ever use it) but loved the flavor it imparted to the salad. Huge hit here! Thanks for the inspiration. :-)
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