Pasta Salad with Chicken

When you don't have time to cook a big Jamaican meal, there are many creative ways to make a pasta salad in minutes for everyone to enjoy.

Here is a recipe for Pasta Salad with Chicken and Green Olives. These days, all of the ingredients can be found at Hi-Lo or the Progressive Group of supermarkets and MegaMart. If not, feel free to substitute your own alternatives.

Start to finish: 25 minutes

Servings: 4

INGREDIENTS

1lb dried penne pasta

1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil, divided

4 fat stalks cleaned, scallion trimmed and cut into 1-inch pieces (including leaves)

3 tbsp apple cider vinegar

1tbsp honey

1tbsp mustard

1tbsp salt, or more to taste

1/2 tbsp ground black pepper, or more to taste

4 cups cubed cooked chicken

1 cup roughly chopped green olives

1/2 cup packed torn fresh basil

DIRECTIONS

1. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the pasta and cook according to package directions. Drain, then rinse under cool water. Set aside.

3. Meanwhile, in a medium-sized pot, heat 1 tablespoon of the oil. Add the scallion and saute for 10 minutes, or until very tender. Set aside.

4. Once the scallion is cooked, in a food processor combine a little more than half of it, add remaining 1/2 cup of olive oil, the vinegar, honey, mustard, salt and pepper. PurEe until smooth.

5. In a large bowl, combine the cooked scallion, cooked and cooled pasta, vinaigrette, chicken, olives and basil. Toss well to combine thoroughly.

Nutrition information per serving: 550 calories and this will feed four persons.