Chipotle Chicken Pasta Salad

Normally I serve pasta salad as a side dish.  With the addition of chicken this pasta salad is filing enough for a lunch or dinner.

Recipe adapted from Food Network

Ingredients:

Pasta Salad

8 ounce box chickpea rotini pasta

1 pound chicken breast cubed

1 zucchini sliced and quartered

1 bell pepper diced

½ cup cherry tomatoes halved

1 avocado sliced

2 tablespoons minced fresh chives

1 teaspoon chipotle lime seasoning

Honey Chipotle Vinaigrette-

½ cup red wine vinegar

¼ cup nonfat plain Greek yogurt

2 chipotle peppers in adobo sauce

2 tablespoons honey

1 tablespoon Dijon mustard

1 teaspoon Italian seasoning

1 clove garlic

¼ cup olive oil

Directions:

1. Bring a large pot of salted water to boil.  Cook pasta to al dente according to package directions.  Drain and rinse with cold water.
2. Add chicken breast to a nonstick pan.  Spray with olive oil spray.  Sprinkle chicken with chipotle lime seasoning.  Cook on medium heat until chicken is cooked through.
3. Cut chicken into bite size cubes.
4. Add diced vegetables to a large bowl.
5. Add chopped chicken to bowl.
6. Add yogurt, vinegar, adobo sauce, chipotle pepper, olive oil, garlic, mustard, Italian seasoning, and honey to a food processor.  Pulse to chop peppers and mix sauce.
7. Add pasta to vegetables. 
8. Pour the sauce over the vegetables and mix to evenly distribute the dressing.
9. Sprinkle chives over the salad.  Toss to mix.
10. Add sliced avocado and gently mix.
11. Refrigerate until ready to serve. Mix well to redistribute dressing before serving.