Chicken Pasta Salad

Very simple and easy chilled salad. The vegetables can be switched out with whatever you like - some artichoke hearts, diced onion, etc, would be great as well. The Parmesan Romano salad dressing is hard to find - if you like Ranch or Bleu cheese, those make good substitute's. I also like Kraft's 3 Cheese Ranch. The aspargus doesn't have to be roasted - raw works well, too - but I prefer the taste of it after it's been roasted. Also posted on my cooking blog.

• Ready In: 40 mins
• Serves: 6-8
• Yields: 1 bowl

Ingredients

• 2  cups  chopped chicken
• 1  red bell pepper
• 1⁄2 orange bell pepper
• 3  stalks celery
• 3  small carrots
• 1 1⁄2 cups cheese, cubed
• 12  stalks asparagus
• 1⁄2 cup sour cream
• 1⁄2 cup  parmesan-romano salad dressing
• 1  teaspoon garlic powder
• 1⁄2 teaspoon  celery salt
•  fresh ground pepper, to taste
• 8  ounces pasta, uncooked

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400°F.
2. toss the asparagus with a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil, some freshly ground pepper and a little kosher salt put in the oven for about 4 minutes.
3. While that's cooking, mix the sour cream, salad dressing, celery salt, minced garlic and some fresh ground pepper together. Taste and adjust if you want more salt or pepper, then set aside.
4. Start water boiling to cook your pasta, and drain when it's finished.
5. While your pasta's cooking, chop up your chicken, bell peppers, celery, carrots and asparagus into small pieces.
6. Put the pasta in a big bowl - seriously, big is important here - and dump in the dressing. Stir until the pasta is coated.
7. Add the chicken and chopped up veggies. Stir to coat.
8. Add the cheese and stir again.