While I’m all for planning and preparing a huge tailgate, sometimes you just want to do nothing on game day except have a good time: no cooking, no cleaning, no work at all. While I’m a big proponent of cooking things as close to service as possible, there are those times when you just want to do everything in advance to make the tailgating experience as easy as possible. You could call this my version of a tailgating MRE or Meal Ready to Eat. I’m sure our military friends from VMI know all about these.
This is one of my go-to recipes for large warm weather gatherings … grilled chicken pasta salad. At first glance, it seems a little benign, but there are a few surprises in the recipe that make it a crowd pleaser.
Grilled Chicken Pasta Salad
Ingredients
- 6 boneless, skinless chicken thighs
- 6 hardboiled eggs
- 1 pound rotini (spirals) pasta
- 2 heads of broccoli
- 1/2 sweet onion and 1/2 sweet bell pepper, small diced
- 1 cup mayonnaise (you can use more or less if you desire)
- 12 cherry tomatoes, halved
- 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
- Dash each of garlic powder and Worcestershire sauce
- Salt and pepper to taste
- Olive Oil
Time To Cook
Bring a charcoal or gas grill to high heat for 10 minutes. Trim any excess fat from the chicken thighs and season well with salt and pepper. Spray or oil the grill grates to keep the chicken from sticking. Grill for 3-5 minutes on each side or until the juices run clear. Be sure not to overcook the chicken! (Don’t worry about nice grill marks as you will be dicing the chicken anyway). Let cool for 10 minutes at room temperature and then place in the freezer for 20 minutes to cool thoroughly prior to adding to the salad.
Bring 1 gallon of water and 2 tablespoons of salt to a boil. Add the pasta and stir to keep from sticking. Break apart the broccoli florets by hand or with a knife (I like them to be about the size of my thumbnail). About 2 minutes before the pasta finishes cooking (I usually go by the instructions on the box as each pasta is different), add the broccoli. Drain the broccoli and pasta together and rinse with cold water. Be sure all of the water is removed or the pasta salad will be watery. The broccoli and pasta should be cooked, but not mushy (and should be room temperature or cooler prior to adding to the salad).
In a small sauce pan, saute the onions and bell pepper in olive oil over medium heat until the onions start to turn clear. Remove from the heat and cool in the fridge.
A neat trick to dicing hard boiled eggs is to use a pastry cutter. Just put them in the bottom of a large bowl and mash them with the pastry cutter until the pieces are about half the size of your pinky nail (a potato masher works as well). Add the mayonnaise, mustard, Worcestershire, garlic powder and the onions and mix well. Add the cherry tomatoes and gently mix them in, being careful not to break them apart. Add the pasta/broccoli and mix well. At this point, you want to taste the pasta salad and add salt and pepper to taste.
Remove the previously cooked chicken from the freezer and dice into large chunks. Add to the pasta salad. Adjust the seasoning again. You can hold in the fridge for up to 2 days. I like to remove it from the fridge/cooler about 30 minutes prior to serving. Add additional mayo, salt, and pepper as needed. Chicken breasts can be substituted for the chicken thighs, but you will likely need to add more mayonnaise. You can also add diced tomatoes in lieu of cherry tomatoes.
Note: This dish has chicken, mayonnaise and eggs. You would be wise to not add any warm ingredients to the pasta salad. You notice that I cool each of the cooked ingredients prior to adding them. It’s important not to keep this salad at room temperature for more than 2 hours and cool immediately after serving. It’s supposed to be warm on Saturday … I wouldn’t come back from the game and dig into chicken pasta salad that’s been sitting in the car for 3 hours!
