Lemon Chicken Artichoke Pasta Salad

• servings: 6 servings
• active time: 1 hour
• total time: 1 hour

Ingredients

Chopped rotisserie chicken breast or thighs (cubes) or 2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts grilled with salt and pepper

1 can each Artichoke hearts and bottoms- cubed

2.5 tbsp olive oil

1.5 tbsp red pepper flakes

4 cloves minced garlic

1 teaspoon smoked paprika

1 teaspoon thyme

1 tbsp oregano

2 tbsp parsley

½ cup pine nuts

1/ box ditalini or short-cut pasta, (cooked)

¾ cup shredded parmesan cheese

Dressing:

1 lemon juiced

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon pepper

1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil

(Optional) 1 tablespoons champagne vinegar/1 teaspoon honey/½ teaspoon freshly grated lemon zest

Directions

Preheat/ grill to the highest setting to grill chicken or chop already done rotisserie chicken. Chop drained artichokes.

In a pan heat garlic, oil, chile. Add chicken and artichokes, sautee for 2 mins on medium. Add oregano, parsley, and smoked paprika.

Bring a pot of salted water to a boil and cook pasta according to the directions. While that cooks, toast the pine nuts.

Place the pine nuts in a nonstick skillet and toast over low heat, stirring often, until golden. This will take about 6 to 8 minutes. Don’t walk away - they will burn.

Place the pasta in a large bowl. Top with the chicken, artichoke hearts, parmesan cheese, pine nuts. Drizzle with half of the vinaigrette and toss well. Taste and drizzle on more of hte vinaigrette, continuing to toss so the dressing is easily distributed. Taste and season with more salt and pepper if needed.

Serve! You can make this ahead of time (up to 24 hours ahead) and store it in the fridge. Leftovers are great too.

vinaigrette

In a bowl, whisk together the vinegar, lemon juice, zest, honey, garlic, salt and pepper. Continue to whisk while streaming in the olive oil. You can make this dressing a day ahead of time and store it in the fridge.

Notes

Modified from original