Green Enchilada Pasta Salad

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Sometimes recipes come together because I have ONE ingredient I want to play with. In the case of this pasta salad … it all started with Halloween pasta I found at World Market.

Black cats, bats, pumpkins and spiders. Oh, I HAD to have this stuff and I HAD to use it in a bento.

Had. To.

Now, most pasta salads I’ve ever had use Italian Dressing as the sauce. And, when it comes to dressings, Italian Dressing is the ONE I just can’t stand. I know. I am weird.

But, Tex-Mex flavors I can totally do. So this kid-friendly recipe was inspired by my favorite Tex-Mex menu item: Enchiladas Salsa Verde.

Green Enchiladas.

They are so much better than regular enchiladas — chicken, corn tortillas, bright and spicy salsa verde, and yummy cheese. Sigh… I lurve ’em.

I decided those flavors needed to enter a relationship with my Halloween pasta. A yummy, addictive pairing of Green Enchiladas and Pasta.

Oh. Yeah.

The Green Enchilada Pasta Salad (I know — original name, right?) is perfect for lunch or dinner. Since it is a cold pasta salad, it is perfect for packing in a bento . . . or enjoying for an easy family dinner.

Or . . . for snatching bites anytime you walk past the fridge.

Not that I know anyone who may or may not have done that.

Green Enchilada Pasta Salad

Ingredients

4 cups Uncooked Pasta
1 15oz can Black Beans
1 cup Shredded Chicken
1 cup Cooked Corn
1 cup of sliced Cherry Tomatoes
1/2 cup crumbled Queso Fresco

For the Dressing

1/2 cup Salsa Verde
1 tsp Taco Seasoning
5 tsp Sour Cream

Directions

Cook pasta according to package instructions. Drain and set aside.
Whisk Salsa Verde, Taco Seasoning and Sour Cream together. Add more sour cream if too spicy for your palate.
Fold the cooked pasta into the sauce to coat.
Add the black beans, chicken, corn, tomato slices and cheese, stirring carefully.
Serve immediately or chill.*

Notes

*If chilling and serving later, the pasta will absorb the majority of the Salsa Verde dressing; when I served it after chilling, I whisked together more dressing and tossed the pasta salad with it.

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