I'm not sure if this amazingly delicious and different pasta salad should be titled The Prettiest Pasta Salad...Evah! or The Most Delicious Pasta Salad! Either way it's seriously one of my very favorite meals and a favorite dish of mine to both serve at and bring to parties/BBQ's.
I came across this dish years and years ago over on Ree Drummonds' (aka The Pioneer Woman) site, Tasty Kitchen. Long before she was a household name. As a matter of fact...back then, no one and I mean no one in my corner of the world (Southeastern Pennsylvania) ever heard of Ree when I brought up her name. I would always say she's huge...she has tons of followers and it was always like chirp...chirp.
Well...look at her now! You go Ree xoxo!
I changed it up a bit and added in some protein in the form of grilled chicken. This is easy to make but it's not a 15 minute dish. You invest a little time due to the chopping of the cabbage and veggies however it is so worth it!
Look at all of that deliciousness....So much going on in perfect harmony here; 2 kinds of cabbage, spinach, peppers, a burst of the fresh taste only cilantro can lend a dish...the pasta...the chicken and more. AND it's all tied up in a pretty package when tossed with this incredibly flavorful sauce! My mouth is literally watering as I type this...Oh dear Lord do I ever love this dish!
I hope you find this Asian Pasta Salad as delicious & as pretty as I do. AND, if you make it and get a couple of ooh's and aaah's...I wanna hear about it 🙂
Enjoy!
The BEST (& Prettiest) Pasta Salad...Evah!
Ingredients
- 1 box of linguine noodles cooked al dente and rinsed with cold water – toss with a bit of olive oil to keep pasta from sticking while you prep
- ½ head of thinly sliced Napa cabbage
- ½ bag of baby spinach
- 1 red bell pepper sliced thin
- 4 scallions sliced white and green
- 1 cucumber peeled and cut into chunks
- 1 ½ cups of chopped cilantro
- 1 cup of honey roasted peanuts optional
- 1 ½ pounds of boneless chicken breasts
- 1 jalapeno slice thinly into rings optional
- Marinade for the Chicken
- ½ cup soy sauce
- ¼ cup honey
- 1 ½ TBS chili garlic sauce Asian section
- Dressing
- 2 TBS honey
- 1 TBS fresh lime juice
- ½ cup extra light olive oil
- 3 TBS sesame oil Asian section
- ½ cup soy sauce
- ¼ cup brown sugar
- 2 tablespoons fresh ginger peeled and chopped
- 1 clove garlic chopped
- 1 jalapeno pepper chopped
- 1 TBS chili garlic sauce Asian section
Instructions
- For Marinade
- Whisk together the 3 ingredients, pour over chicken and refrigerate for 30 minutes up to 4 hours. Tossing every so often.
- Once ready, preheat grill cook chicken over medium high heat for about 10 minutes. Flipping once to achieve some nice grill marks.
- Watch for flames from the honey.
- Let chicken rest a bit then slice down.
- For Salad
- Place ½ the pasta in your bowl or on your serving dish, toss with some of the dressing, layer on ½ of your salad ingredients. Drizzle with some of the dressing.
- Repeat (tossing linguine with some of the dressing before you add it). Drizzle liberally with remaining dressing.
- For dressing
- Combine all ingredients, whisk well until incorporated. Pour dressing over just prior to serving. Toss very well.(If you have juice from your chicken after you slice it down…throw it into the dressing as well)
- This dish is best served at room temperature.
- ** I usually double the recipe. It is still delicious left over.
Brenda@SugarfreeMom says
THis is certianly eating the rainbow in a salad, gorgeous colors!
Colleen (Souffle Bombay) says
THAT is a great way to look at it...Love it!
The Food Hunter says
This looks amazing! Almost too pretty too eat!
Cookin Canuck says
I can never turn down a good pasta salad, and it looks as though this one easily crosses the threshold from good to great. I'm not kidding when I say that I wouldn't be able to stop eating this.
Tasha @thatssoyummy says
I LOVE everything in this recipe. Just pass me a BIG spoon please 😁
Martha @ A Family Feast says
This really IS the prettiest pasta salad "evah!" 🙂 I immediately started drooling looking that your photos!
Kellie @ The Suburban Soapbox says
Beautiful colors, would be perfect for a Labor Day barbecue!!!
Heather | girlichef says
This is definitely one of the most gorgeous pasta salads I've ever seen - and the flavors sound insanely good!
Erin @ Texanerin Baking says
It does indeed look delicious and pretty! Love all the flavors in there. 🙂
Susan says
I like that it's more salad with some pasta added to it! A complete meal and yes very pretty and tasty looking too!
Renee - Kudos Kitchen says
I can almost taste this salad just by looking at your pictures. I'm seriously craving this now!
Joanne McKie says
In your writing you say two types of cabbage but in the recipe you only list one. Am I reading this wrong?