Italian Chopped Salad in Shells

Chris gets all the credit for these yummy appetizers :) He found this recipe online one day & wanted to make these for our annual Brewers' Game tailgate today. He found them very easy to make & everyone was quite impressed! I thought they were a great alternative to pasta salad... lighter & no utensils required!

Italian Chopped Salad in Shells
Makes 36 appetizers

1 (16 ounce) package jumbo pasta shells
4 cups chopped romaine lettuce
1/2 cup chopped fresh basil
1 cup coarsely chopped cooked chicken
1 cup coarsely chopped tomato
3/4 cup coarsely chopped cucumber
3 ounces Italian hard salami, chopped
Mozzarella cheese, chopped into small cubes
1/3 cup roasted garlic vinaigrette (or Italian) dressing

-Cook pasta shells as directed on the package. Drain & cool.
-Place remaining ingredients except vinaigrette in a medium bowl.
-Pour vinaigrette over the salad, toss to coat.
-Stuff the shells with the salad.
-Cover & refrigerate 2 hours before serving.

*Other suggestion: adding chopped olives.

*These shells reminded me a lot of my favorite salad... the Portillo's Chopped Salad! So you could also try to use several of the same ingredients. Here they are from the Portillo's website: Chopped Romaine & Iceberg lettuce mixed with Ditalini pasta, chicken breast, bacon, tomato, red cabbage, Gorgonzola cheese, green onion & our house dressing.

*Recipe courtesy of recipezaar.com

Italian Chopped Salad in Shells