Cobb Pasta Salad
Author: 
Recipe type: Pasta
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 
Serves: 6
 
Traditional Cobb Salad meets pasta in this great kid-friendly, one-dish meal.
Ingredients
  • 12 ounces uncooked pasta, like rotini, penne, bow tie
  • 1 lb chicken breast, cut into bite size pieces (seasoned with ¼ teaspoon salt, ⅛ teaspoon pepper and ⅛ teaspoon garlic powder)
  • 1 avocado
  • 1 cup cherry tomatoes
  • ~1½ cup cheese cubes (~6-ounces of a block)
  • 4 hard-boiled eggs, chopped
  • 6 slices bacon cooked and crumbled
  • ⅓ cup sliced green onions
  • For the Red Wine Vinaigrette (can sub store-bought dressing or ranch):
  • ½ cup red wine vinaigrette
  • 2 Tablespoon Dijon mustard
  • 2 teaspoons agave
  • 2 garlic cloves, minced
  • ½ teaspoon black pepper
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • ½ cup olive oil
Instructions
  1. To make dressing: whisk together red wine vinegar, Dijon, agave, garlic pepper and salt in a bowl. Slowly whisk in olive oil and store in an airtight container (glass jars work great). Can be made ahead.
  2. Cook pasta according to package instructions. Drain and set aside. Toss with a little oil if it's going to sit too long.
  3. In a large nonstick or cast iron skillet, cook bacon over medium heat. Once done, remove and set aside. Crumble or cut bacon into bite size pieces. Drain the bacon grease from the pan, place skillet back over medium heat and add chicken. Cook for 6-8 minutes or until cooked through. Remove to bowl.
  4. While bacon and chicken cook, combine other salad ingredients: tomatoes, cheese, egg, green onion and avocado (if you are not eating immediately you will want to hold off on adding because this will turn brownish over the days) in a large bowl. Add cooled cooked pasta, chicken and bacon. Toss to combine.
  5. Pour half of the dressing over the pasta salad, toss to combine. Store in an sealed container in the refrigerator. Enjoy cold or room temperature. Keep remaining dressing to add as needed.
Notes
This pasta salad is lightly dressed using just half of the amount of the dressing made in order to make it more kid-friendly. I used extra dressing on the adult portions and any leftover dressing can be used for salads.

Omit anything your picky eaters might not like, such as the green onions.
Recipe by Nutritious Eats at https://www.nutritiouseats.com/cobb-pasta-salad/