Chicken Pesto Pasta Salad

It is really hot here right now. The temperature as risen about 3-4 degrees every day this week. As I'm typing the temperature outside says 93 degrees. I decided to make a pasta salad with veggies and chicken.

A couple of months ago, I bought a pack of the canned chicken from Costco. I tried a sample once and it tasted like tuna to me but dear hubby liked it and it was a healthy option so, why not. I completely reorganized my pantry last week and I saw that I still had all of those cans of chicken. I hadn't used even one.

 
What to do... I was thinking about making pesto and I thought that it might be a good way to use that canned chicken; with pesto to cover up the flavor. Don't take this wrong, it is a good product, I just have to be in the mood for canned chicken that reminds me of tuna.

I boiled a half a bag of whole wheat pasta, approx. eight ounces, drained it and set it in the refrigerator to chill.

I made a quick pesto using four cups of fresh basil, a combination of almonds and cashews to make 1/2 cup, 2 cloves of garlic, grated lemon rind, 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese, 1/2 cup olive oil and salt and pepper. I mixed it together in the food processor and set it aside.

I had placed the can of chicken in the refrigerator to chill a few hours earlier so I drained the water off and added it to the bowl of chilled pasta from the refrigerator. I cut a large red pepper into thin slices along with some small mozzarella balls cut in half and added those to the bowl.

I mixed all of the ingredients together with the pesto and placed it back into the refrigerator to thoroughly chill. I had bought mini heirloom tomatoes from Trader Joe's to add and I forgot to add them for the picture. It made a great lunch with a little fruit and veggie sticks for a hot afternoon at the pool.


I was really glad it didn't taste like tuna salad with pesto.