Southwestern Pasta Salad

 

Here's a pasta salad for you if you like a little southwest flavor to your food. The flavor of your pasta salad will largely be determined by what barbecue sauce you use. So, you can tailor it to your tastes. If you want something hot and spicy, use a hot and spicy barbecue sauce. If you want something sweeter, you can go that direction. It's really up to you!

 

Barbecue Chicken Pasta Salad

Ingredients:

3 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
2 cups barbecue sauce, divided
1 (16 ounce) package small whole-wheat pasta shells

1 cup mayonnaise
1 teaspoon ground cuin
1 cup jicama, peeled and diced
2 red bell peppers, seeded and diced
2 orange bell peppers, seeded and diced
1 (15.25 ounce) cans whole kernel corn, drained
3/4 cup minced fresh cilantro
2 (15 ounce) cans black beans, rinsed and drained
2 jalapeno peppers, seeded and chopped (optional)
1 small red onion, chopped (optional)

Directions:

Place the chicken breasts into a saucepan over medium-low heat and pour in 1 cup of barbecue sauce. Simmer the chicken until the meat is no longer pink inside, about 15 minutes. Allow to cool, and dice chicken meat.

Cook pasta according to package directions until al dente. Drain well and rinse with cold water until chilled. Drain again thoroughly.

In a large salad bowl, whisk 1 cup of barbecue sauce with mayonnaise until thoroughly combined. Mix in the cumin, then stir in cooked chicken. Place cooked pasta, jicama, red and orange bell peppers, corn, cilantro, black beans, jalapeno peppers, and red onion into the salad bowl, and gently fold to combine with the chicken and dressing. Serve warm or chilled.

Source: Allrecipes.com, submitted by nenithel. You can find it here.

Notes: Ours was a sweeter pasta salad because of the barbecue sauce we used. It was great as a sweeter pasta salad, but would also be great if you opted to go more on the spicy side, or the smoky side, etc. Just use your favorite barbecue sauce and enjoy!