Creamy Chicken Cherry Pasta Salad

At one of the holiday parties this year, I could not stop staring at this pasta dish a family member brought... UGH the creaminess, gosh, how I miss the creamy pasta salads. It seems like every creamy pasta salad I see has ounces and ounces of dairy which are difficult to find replacements for. However, I woke up the next morning still thinking about this salad so I was determined, no matter how hard the task, I would find a way to make this recipe gluten, dairy, and FODMAP friendly. To my surprise this was one of the easiest recipes I have had to tweak (and prepare) yet!!

So, enough talking, as I think the recipe name and photo speaks for itself. Time to get your hands on this creamy, simple, amazing, mouthwatering, (did I mention oh so creamy?? ha!), recipe!!

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 package of chicken (shred or dice into cubes)

• 1 box of gluten free Penne noodles

• 3/4 cup sliced celery

• Roughly 1 cup of dried cherries

• 1 1/4 cup mayo

• 1 1/4 cup Lighthouse Poppy-seed Dressing (this is gluten and dairy free)

• 1 teaspoon salt

• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper

• 1-2 cups cashews or walnuts

• 1 small pack of bacon bits or freshly chopped bacon (optional)

• 3 cups of spinach (optional)

DIRECTIONS:

• In a large bowl add in your freshly cooked & rinsed pasta (cook pasta as it states on the box), celery, cherries, and bacon.

• In a separate bowl combine your poppy-seed dressing, mayo, salt & pepper.

• Once combined into a thick dressing, stir in about 1/2 - 3/4 of the mixture into the large bowl. Save the remaining dressing as you will use later.

• Refrigerate covered for several hours or even overnight.

• Before serving, add in your chopped spinach, cashews or walnuts, and remaining salad dressing.

• ENJOY!! Let me know if you make this recipe. This is one of my absolute favorites!!!

Xo- A