Chicken pesto pasta salad

I'm so excited about this recipe!  The Engineer said it's the best pasta salad I've made, and Chickie asked for leftovers the next day.

I'm not including measurements because it's pasta salad--everything is "to taste!"

Chicken Pesto Pasta Salad

Ingredients:

• Basil pesto (I used jarred Classico brand)
• Boneless skinless chicken breasts (I used tenderloins, which cook a bit faster)
• Pasta (I used garden rotini)
• Sliced almonds (Pine nuts would work too)
• Raw spinach, cut into thin strips
• Sun-dried tomatoes, chopped
• Shredded parmesan cheese
• Italian or vinaigrette salad dressing, chilled (I used Wish Bone Romano Basil Vinaigrette)

Instructions:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Put a wire rack in a foil-lined pan.
• Put some basil pesto in a bowl.  Pat chicken pieces dry with a paper towel, and coat each piece of chicken well with pesto.  Make sure you don't use all the pesto for this step; you'll need some of it later.
• Place pesto-coated chicken on wire rack in pan, and cook in oven until internal temperature reaches 160 degrees (about 45 minutes for tenderloins)
• While chicken is cooking, cook pasta according to package directions.  When done, rinse pasta well with cold water, and set aside.  Refrigerate, covered, if necessary.
• When chicken is done, let it cool, and slice it into bite-sized pieces.
• Mix chicken, pasta, almonds, spinach, and tomatoes together.  Toss with a mixture of salad dressing and extra pesto.  (Pesto has a strong garlic flavor, so don't overdo it unless you want a very strongly-flavored salad.)
• If you have any pasta salad left over, be sure to add a bit more salad dressing before eating it--it will dry out in the refrigerator, but the extra dressing makes it delicious again!