Lemon-Basil Chicken-Pasta Salad: Dinner for $10

No Comments | Written on July 9, 2012 at 3:00 pm, by The Editors

budget dinner recipes One of the best things about these long summer evenings is how many ways there are to enjoy them. You’ve got your outdoor concerts, movies in the park, and a whole variety of festivals — the sort of activities that invite you to toss a blanket and some lawn chairs in the car and spend an evening out in the warm summer twilight.

So it’s great to have a handful of recipes in your collection that can come together in a flash and that keep well in a cooler. And on that score, this Lemon-Basil Chicken-Pasta Salad is perfect.

Face it: you really can’t go wrong with chicken and pasta. Here they’re tossed with seasonal asparagus and fresh basil, and brightened with the zing of lemon zest. It’s the ideal combination of light yet satisfying. It’s light on your wallet, too: this Lemon-Basil Chicken-Pasta Salad yields 4 servings at just $1.90 per serving.

We recently whipped up a double batch for a group of friends before we all went to our local Shakespeare in the park performance. The salad got rave reviews (so did the show), and we couldn’t help but wonder whether Iago would have been a little less spiteful had he been in our shoes, enjoying good food and a crisp glass of Pinot Grigio under the stars.