Food for Friday: Asian Chicken Pasta Salad

I first made this dish at a women's group cooking night with some friends from church. It's healthy, has a great Asian flavor and is a good dish for getting several servings of veggies. It's in the regular rotation at our house and the leftovers are even good as a cold pasta salad. (If you want a super quick dinner, chop the veggies in advance and it will take less than 20 minutes to prepare! You could even boil the noodles ahead of time.)

Ingredients:
olive oil
4 person portion whole wheat angel hair pasta
2 cloves garlic
2-3 cups cubed chicken breast (2 large breasts)
2 tbls. sesame seeds
1/2 cup soy sauce (I use Kinkoman's low sodium soy sauce.)
2 tbls. sesame oil
2 cucumbers
2 carrots
3 green onions (optional)
a couple of handfuls of bean sprouts
peanuts

Boil water and cook pasta according to instructions on box.

Peel and slice the cucumbers. Remove ends from the bean sprouts. Peel the carrots, then use the peeler to shred the carrots into pieces. Chop peanuts.

Spray pan with olive oil and sautee two cloves of minced garlic in the oil. (I use my garlic press to add the garlic to the pan.) Add the cubed chicken and 2 tbls. sesame seeds. Stir fry until chicken is browned and cooked through.

Add 2 tbls. sesame oil & 1/2 cup soy sauce to chicken and simmer.

Add the veggies and mix well. Let simmer so veggies can soak up the sauce and until they reach your desired tenderness.

Add the drained pasta noodles and mix well. Let simmer for a few additional minutes.

Top each serving with a sprinkling of chopped peanuts.