Sunny Days and Loaded Salads

There's something about warm, beautiful weather that makes me want to live outside.

I want to soak up the sun, bask in it, feel it warming my face and arms.

I do not mind the heat.  Not one bit.

I absolutely drool over those beautiful, built-in outdoor kitchens one encounters on Pinterest and dream of warm days spent in outdoor living spaces.

One day.

While I don't have my dreamy outdoor kitchen situation quite yet (lets get me through school before we jump into another house- at least that's what I keep telling my husband...) I am definitely all for grilling out and fun summer-worthy meals as often as possible when it's as beautiful out as it has been lately.

After church on Sunday we came home and I got to work prepping side dishes while my husband got the grill going for the meat I had marinating.

One might think I get tired of trying new salad recipes.

One would be wrong.  :-)

This time I tried out a recipe for Chicken Club Pasta Salad.  Who doesn't love a good club sandwich, right?

Ok...actually I find that third piece of bread a little awkward and superfluous, but that's kind of besides the point.

The point is everything in that sandwich is fabulous and satisfying and it's all of those same ingredients that give this salad the same qualities!

Really, this is super simple.  It did call for rotini but I realized too late that the only pasta salad-worthy noodles I had were elbow macaroni so that's what I went with.  I do think next time I'd use a tri-color rotini or farfalle just to beef up the texture of the salad a little

The rest of the ingredients really read like a list of ingredients from a chicken club sandwich.

Chicken (I diced chicken breast that my husband had previously grilled- it came from that same batch I used in the Chicken Fiesta Salad.  It's great to have that much flavor ready to go in the freezer when you need it!), bacon, muenster cheese, tomato, and a handful of other ingredients in a lightly creamy sauce.  I did leave out the avocado because my family is weird and won't eat it unless it's in guac.  I don't get them.  :-)

It's really super simple and yummy too.  My husband couldn't stop raving about it!

Chicken Club Pasta Salad

Modified slightly from Allrecipes.com

8 oz corkscrew-shaped pasta

3/4 C Italian-style salad dressing

1/2 C ranch dressing

1/4 C mayonnaise

1 tsp black pepper

2 C chopped, cooked rotisserie chicken

12 slices crispy cooked bacon, crumbled

1 C cubed Muenster cheese

1 C chopped celery

1 C chopped green bell pepper

8 oz cherry tomatoes, halved

1 avocado - peeled, pitted, and chopped

1. Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Cook pasta in the boiling water, stirring occasionally until cooked through but firm to the bite, 10 to 12 minutes. Drain and rinse under cold water.

2. Whisk Italian-style dressing, ranch, and mayonnaise together in a large bowl. Stir pasta, chicken, bacon, Muenster cheese, celery, green bell pepper, cherry tomatoes, and avocado into dressing until evenly coated.