What You'll Need
Scale
- 1 lb box of rotini
- 2 cups halved cherry tomatoes
- 2 cups diced cucumbers
- 2 cups fresh corn kernels
- 2 cups chopped romaine lettuce
- 1 pound of thinly sliced chicken breast tenders*
- 1/2 cup of sesame seeds
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 2 tablespoons honey
- Sesame Honey Dijon dressing:
- 2/3 cup olive oil
- 1/4 cup red wine vinegar
- 2 tablespoons honey
- 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
- 1/8 cup toasted sesame seeds
- salt, pepper and red pepper flakes to taste
- *you can easily substitute firm tofu here.
What You'll Do
- Bring a pot of well-salted water to a boil. Add the pasta and cook until al dente pasta. After 7 minutes, drain pasta and set aside.
- Lay out your chicken tenders on a cutting board and season with salt. On a small plate, pour ½ cup of sesame seeds. Evenly coat each side of the chicken in the sesame seeds. Heat a large frying pan with 2 tablespoons of olive oil and 1 tablespoon of honey. Place the half of the chicken in the pan and cook for 3 minutes on each side until golden brown. Add the remaining 2 tablespoons of olive oil and 1 tablespoon of honey into the pan and repeat with the rest of the chicken. Cut the chicken into ½ inch pieces. Set aside.
- While the chicken rests, make the dressing. Whisk all dressing ingredients together in a small bowl until well-combined.
- Put the pasta in a large bowl and add in 2 cups each of tomato, cucumber, corn, and lettuce. Toss to coat.
- Cut the chicken into ½ inch pieces and serve either on top of the pasta salad or tossed into the pasta salad. Enjoy!
- This pasta salad can be served warm or cold and is easily made ahead of time!