Eat This! "More " The best make ahead Chicken Veggie Pasta Salad EVER!(lighter version)

  It is that time of year…for some reason I seem busier than usual but I have not made any additions to my already ridiculous schedule. Like most of you it only makes sense to tear through the drive through on one of the many fast food chains in my area.  But we aren’t going to do that. Especially with all the weekend trips I have lined up in the next few months. So I’m going to make my go to “make ahead” pasta salad that we lovingly refer to as "MORE" because you will literally find yourself eating this out of the container in front of your fridge in the middle of the night and breakfast the next morning!

 You may be thinking "what's so gourmet about a pasta salad?"(If you’re a total jerk) but do not be fooled!!!This is a carefully crafted pasta dream dish! All the components are prepared separately and could most certainly stand on their own, but together.....they are amazing! And more importantly this by far is so much better for you then fast food!!!! The original recipe that I published a few years ago on my website is amazing but higher in calories and fat content and because I'm on a diet my recipes reflect some welcomed and waistline friendly changes! I have swapped out the mayo and Ranch dressing  for Greek yogurt with ranch dressing dry mix and omitted the butter all together from the original recipe to make it healthier but you wont miss any of it, promise!

What I have done is separated the dish into 3 parts to then be combined in the end. Or you can forget the pasta and combine the veggies and chicken or just the vegetables  for a light weekday salad (If omitting the pasta then add of the dry ranch dressing mix to the Italian dressing and toss)

Part1
1 box whole grain or gluten free pasta (elbows)
1/2 cup plain or Greek fat free yogurt
1 packet Ranch Dressing mix
1tsp each garlic powder and onion powder
1tsp olive oil
*Cook pasta according to package directions...then drain and while still warm add yogart dressing and spices ,toss and set aside

Part2
2 diced English cucumber
2 diced tomato
1 can black olives

½ cup finely diced onion

2 cups broccoli
1/4cup Kens Italian dressing

1 tsp onion powder

1 tsp garlic salt

Fresh ground black pepper
*combine all ingredients and toss well and set aside to marinate.

Part 3
1 lb chicken breast cubed
1tsp minced garlic

1 tsp sea salt
1 tbsp olive or coconut oil
In medium sauce pan over med heat add oil brown the chicken on both sides remove from heat and add garlic toss and coat all the chicken well.

Finale
In a large bowl or pot combine all ingredients and mix well. cool in fridge 1/2 hour min. Have some and then have some more and some more and some more!