I love planning the menus for bridal showers. There’s something so fun about pulling together old and new recipes that are just a bit beyond ordinary…a little fancy. And spring is the absolute best time, in my opinion, to be planning a shower menu, because it’s an “in between” season – A time when both winter’s heavy dishes and summer’s lighter offerings exist happily on the same table. It’s the best of both worlds.

This Teriyaki Chicken Salad is perfectly suited for this gorgeous spring season. It’s a substantial salad, filled with comforting pasta and chicken, but it has many yummy, lighter components too – fresh spinach, tangy mandarin oranges and delicate green onions, to name a few. It’s a perfect marriage of heavy and light…and your guests are going to love it!

Teriyaki Chicken Salad

16 oz bowtie pasta, cooked and cooled

½ cup salad oil (I used olive oil)

2/3 cup prepared teriyaki sauce

6 T granulated sugar

½ tsp salt

½ tsp black pepper

4 cups chicken, cooked and shredded or diced (rotisserie chicken works beautifully)

5 oz fresh spinach, washed and dried

6 oz Craisins ®

22 oz mandarin oranges, drained

¼ cup green onions, finely chopped

4 T toasted sesame seeds

½ cup honey roasted almonds or peanuts, chopped

In a large bowl, combine the oil, teriyaki sauce, sugar, salt and pepper. Stir until your dressing is well combined, then mix in the cooked pasta and the shredded chicken until everything is coated well. Cover your bowl and refrigerate 1 to 24 hours.

Then you can prepare the remaining ingredients: heat the sesame seeds in a dry pan over medium heat until they are lightly toasted and combine them with the chopped almonds/peanuts, and set aside (in an airtight container if you’ll be storing them overnight), wash and dry the spinach, chop the onions and store them covered in the refrigerator, etc.

When you are ready to serve the salad, stir your pasta/chicken mixture to redistribute any dressing that has settled. Tear the spinach into bite-sized pieces and add them to the bowl, then add the remaining ingredients to the bowl and toss until everything is coated in the dressing. If you are short on time the day of your bridal shower, you can add the other ingredients to the bowl earlier without the salad suffering, but your spinach will wilt slightly and the nuts will soften a bit in the dressing.

Enjoy!

Posted by Shannon, a Dot-arilla blogger