Quick and Easy Potluck Salad

We went to my mother-in-laws for Easter last Sunday and I needed to bring a salad. Quite often, as was the case this time, I didn't plan ahead. The result of what I threw together actually turned out pretty good. I took the ingredients and concepts from the Soy Chicken Salad in the recipe book, but for those of you who don't have the book or want to know what I did differently, here's the skinny (and as usual, these measurements are estimates. I didn't keep track of the amounts very well.)

Chicken Pasta Salad

1/2 bag rainbow pasta
1-2 C. iceberg lettuce, chopped
1-2 C. red leaf lettuce, chopped
3 Tbsp. cilantro, choppped
3 Tbsp. flax seeds (opt.)
1 can cooked chicken w/broth
1/2- 3/4 C. mayonnaise
2 tsp. sesame oil
1 Tbsp. olive oil
1-2 Tbsp. rice vinegar
3 Tbsp. soy sauce
almonds, chopped or slivered
1 tsp. olive oil
2 Tbsp. sugar

Cook and drain pasta. Run under cold water until it cools off. Set aside. Add chicken, mayo, sesame oil, olive oil, rice vinegar, and soy sauce together in bowl and stir. Refrigerate anywhere from 15 minutes to 3 hours (I didn't have time to do this step for very long, maybe 15 minutes or so, but the longer you let marinate the more blended the flavors). Add lettuces together with cilantro, pasta, and flax seeds. The flax seeds do not add flavor to this salad, but since it's a good thing to have in anything, I figured - why not?

In a pan, heat olive oil then add almonds and sugar. Cook, stirring constantly, until sugar crystals are dissolved and it gets caramely. Remove nuts -preferrable BEFORE they burn (I almost killed mine), and spread out on a cookie sheet to cool.

Just before serving add chicken dressing mixture and sugared nuts; then mix until everything is evenly combined. BTW - This was much quicker than the original version and not one bite was leftover when the dinner was done. That either means a good salad or not enough food...hmmm.