Chicken Caesar Pasta Salad with Kale & Green Beans

Since I always have half of a box of pasta leftover from my chicken noodle soup, I try to come up with creative ways to use it. This week, I had a lot of "stuff" in my fridge & pantry, none of it enough to stand on its own so I decided to throw it all together. I'm sharing this because I think it would be great for any potluck, BBQ, party, an easy 1 dish dinner, etc. Any modifications are possible!

Ingredients:

• 1/2 a box of pasta
• 1 cooked chicken breast, cubed
• 10 or so green beans chopped into bite sized pieces (about the same as the chicken)
• 2 cups of chopped or shredded kale - massage it a little, to soften it
• 1 carrot, halved & chopped
• Caesar dressing
• Parmesan cheese, to taste
• Cracked (ground) black pepper, to taste

Directions:

1. Cook chicken breast (if you don't have leftovers)
2. Cook pasta to box specifications and drain
   -- in the last 2 minutes of cooking time for the pasta, toss the green beans into the water to cook a bit and drain with pasta
3. In a large bowl, combine the cooked pasta & green beans, chicken, massaged kale, carrot and dressing
4. Toss everything together so that the dressing coats all ingredients
5. Add cracked black pepper and grated parmesan cheese, and toss again
6. Cover and put into fridge to cool for at least 1 hour - the longer, the better
7. Top with parm, serve and enjoy!