Barbecue Vinaigrette

I’m not exactly where this recipe came from.

It found its way into my family’s repertoire via a meal-in-a-basket gift one Christmas, or was it a birthday? I guess it doesn’t matter. All you need to know is that it found its way into my family’s hearts (and tummies) years ago and has become a regular on the dinner rotation.

But when I moved out, I never made it on my own.

I’m not sure why. It’s a meal I like. It just never occurred to me to MAKE it for myself, until recently, when I was looking for something new to do with chicken breasts.

First step: poach some chicken breasts in a pot of water. Sometimes I add a splash of vinegar to tenderize it a bit.

Next, start a pot of fettuccini. Or linguini. Or any shape pasta you want, really. I like fettuccini with this.

While these are cooking, you can make the barbecue vinaigrette sauce. It starts off with some barbecue sauce (shocker, right?).

Some olive oil…

Some vinegar (I think I used white wine vinegar since our recipe wasn’t specific)…Don’t worry about the color, I didn’t rinse out my measuring cup after the barbecue sauce.

And some soy sauce.

Whisk it all up…

Meanwhile, your chicken is done. Let it cool for a few minutes…

And drain your pasta.

Pour the vinaigrette over the pasta and mix it in.

Add corn. We usually use frozen, but this time I used canned.

And of course, your chicken gets cut up and put in there, as well.

All mixed up!

Finally, before serving, you can top it off with green onions. Other people in my family use regular raw onions, but I much much much prefer green onions. Much.

Give it another stir, and then serve!

It’s an easy weeknight dish. In fact, the recipe says to chill it before serving, so you could make it in the morning or the day before. Personally, though, I have no idea why it says that. I much prefer it hot, but maybe that’s just me. Even so, it’s not hard to throw together.

It’s a unique flavor combination, flavors that aren’t often mixed with pasta (I’m trying to think of another time I put soy sauce on pasta…), and maybe that’s just what makes this meal work so well. Hubby went back for seconds when I made this, so I guess it’s pretty nummy.

I recommend you try it! Here's the recipe. Let me know what you think!