Fruity Pasta Salad with Mango Corn Bread

 My favorite things to do in the evening, after a crazy day of chasing kids is read... I love to read. I don't believe in buying a lot of books, I am a big fan of the library... And I am super lucky to live right across the street from the library.... ONCE every TWO WEEKS... Ok, so my library is on wheels, but I love it.

The problem with having a library on wheels, if you read as much as I do, you get to point where you have almost everything you want to read... But this last trip to the book truck I found something wonderful a CULINARY MYSTERY... Can you imagine my excitement at finding my two favorite things, food and fiction, in one happy place!

Key Lime Pie is an easy read mystery novel, with delicious recipes throughout... While reading the book I kept thinking, how is she going to put food in this situation? I have already made four of the recipes, and they have each turned out DELICIOUS! I am going to share two of the recipes with you today!

Fruity Chicken Pasta Salad
This fruity tangy salad would be perfect for a lunch with your best girl friends!

2 cups mayonnaise
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1/2 teaspoon celery seed
1/2 cup honey
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
2 to 3 chicken breasts, diced*
1 (16-ounce) package tri-colored pasta (Rotini, wacky mac, penne, etc.)
2 (15-ounce) cans mandarin oranges, drained (Shawn likes fresh mangoes, for a more tropical taste)
1/4 pound sugar snap peas, sliced diagonally
1/2 cup chopped green onions
Chow mein noodles

In a medium-sized bowl, mix the mayonnaise, minced garlic, celery seed, honey, salt, and pepper together. Cover andplace in the refrigerator. Cook the chicken in a pan, then dice and place in a large bowl. While the chicken is cooking,cook the pasta, then drain and add to chicken. Add the mandarin oranges, sugar snap peas, green onions, and mayonnaise
sauce to the bowl. Gently mix together until everything is covered with the sauce. Refrigerate for one hour beforeserving. Top with chow mein noodles.
Serves 12.
*Can use canned chicken in a pinch.

Mango Corn Bread
I was a little skeptical of corn bread with MANGOS, but it is so yummy. It is very sweet almost like a cake.

2 cups flour
2 cups cornmeal
2 tablespoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1 cup butter
1/2 cup sugar
4 eggs
2 cups milk
1 mango, chopped
1 tablespoon sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine dry ingredients and set aside. Cream butter and sugar. Add eggs and milk.Add in dry ingredients, stir until just mixed. Add mango. Stir to combine. Pour batter into a greased 9x13-inch pan. Bake 35 to 45 minutes or until toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. When bread is done baking, sprinkle top with sugar. Serve with softened butter.
Makes 12 servings.

Note: Can use a corn bread mix. Follow package instructions to prepare batter, then add cinnamon, nutmeg, and mango. Mix according to recipe.

This is a fresh and yummy summer meal!

I like to LINK to these parties!

P.S. All of these opinions are mine, this is not a sponsored post!