#ewew cooks Pasta Salad with Tri-Coloured Conchiglie

I always try to incorporate salads into my diet when eating at home as it's one of the easier meals to prepare (that's why I don't usually order salads when I'm eating out) whilst keeping your kitchen oil-free with the least amount of cleaning up to do.

But, as much as I like to eat salads (for health reasons), eating fresh leaves can sometimes be challenging to digest in large amounts.  I'm sure many share the same sentiment.  As someone would say...she doesn't want to feel like she's 'grazing like a goat....mehhhhhh'! ;D

So, I took inspiration from the many salads made by a blog I stalk follow and combined aspects of it to come up with my version of Pasta Salad with Tri-Coloured Conchiglie.

Ingredients:

5 chicken fillets

2 strips of bacon (flavoured with smoked paprika)

8 fresh button mushrooms

8 cherry tomatoes (I used 4 red & 4 yellow ones)

1 small head of broccoli
1 red bell pepper

1 yellow bell pepper

1/2 a Japanese cucumber

1/2 cup pasta
And what....no vinaigrette? ;)

Preparation:

Season the chicken fillets with salt, freshly cracked black pepper and smoked paprika.

Deseed and slice the red and yellow bell peppers into strips.  Slice the button mushrooms thickly.  Cut the broccoli into small florets, slice into rounds half a Japanese cucumber and cut the cherry tomatoes into halves.

I saw these tri-coloured conchiglie (or seashell-shaped) pasta, made with durum wheat semolina with egg, tomato and spinach extract (yellow, red and green pasta), on the shelves of Mercato and thought they looked really colourful and cute.  You can use other types of pasta like elbow macaroni, fusilli (spiral-shaped), orecchiette (ear-shaped), farfalle (bow ties) or penne.

Method:

Pan-fry the seasoned chicken fillets in some olive oil until well browned.

Sauteed the button mushrooms (the portion shown here is only half) and season with salt and black pepper.

Boil the pasta according to packet instructions (10 - 12 minutes) in salted boiling water.  Drain well (as the shells tend to hold water within them).

Season the broccoli and bell peppers with olive oil, salt and black pepper and bake at 200°C for 30 minutes (both trays went in the same time).  The broccoli might need a slightly shorter time, so take them out first once they're charred nicely.  To be honest, I've never liked broccoli.  If I find them in a stir-fry vegetable dish with cauliflower, I'd always eat the cauliflower instead of the broccoli.  But since being shown how good roasted broccoli can be, I'm a fan and makes it regularly now.

After that, it's just a matter of tossing everything together.  Here, I used only half of the cooked ingredients and kept the other half for my salad next day.

Here's my Pasta Salad with Tri-Coloured Conchiglie :)

The best thing was, when I tasted the salad ingredients together, there was enough flavour and it didn't even need any salad dressing...and that's because I seasoned every layer of the ingredients during cooking (other than the cucumber and tomatoes).  I also made full use of the olive oil left from frying the chicken fillets and juices released from the mushrooms as a dressing for my salad.  You can make a light vinaigrette if you want (but I didn't need it).

The key to a good salad is to choose a range of vegetables with different textures, flavours and colours.  You get the crunchy texture from the cucumbers, the smoky, charred flavour from the broccoli, the sweetness from the bell peppers, the juiciness from the cherry tomatoes (and peppers), the earthy flavour and juicy texture of the mushrooms and a slight heat from the peppers and paprika (in the bacon). ^.^  And you've got the proteins in there as well from the chicken and some 'naughty' bacon (just one slice only what!).

The different colours of green, red, yellow and brown from the vegetables, mushrooms and tri-coloured pasta makes the salad beautifully presented and visually appealing to eat.

The addition of a carb (the conchiglie) made this salad more filling than just fresh greens and I was able to fend of feelings of hunger for quite a while.  It stores really well too and convenient to reheat in my oven toaster without compromising the vegetables and meat.  I only left out the mushrooms and pasta, so when I had it again the next day, all I needed to do was to cook these two items and add on the cucumber and tomatoes.

This salad is great for a main meal (portions made are enough for two filling meals).  Add on a sunny side-up egg (with runny yolk, of course) to make it even more decadent and filling.

I have to say this is the best salad I've put together so far solely because of the choice and combination of ingredients with each component giving a different texture and flavour to the salad. ^o^  This is my favourite (cooked) salad todate (and I can see myself making this regularly from now on)...and, best of all, I don't have to 'graze like a cow'! :P

Serves two (as a main meal) or 4 - 5 (as a side of vegetables to your main dish)