Bruschetta Chicken Pasta Salad

Linda started radiation this week. Every day for six weeks. I drive her on Mondays and Fridays — the days I can shift my brewery schedule. Tom drives her on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Megan covers Wednesdays, leaving school during her planning period, driving across town, sitting with Linda during treatment, and driving back to school in time for afternoon class. She doesn't complain. She doesn't mention it. She just does it. When I tried to thank her she said, "She's my family too." Past tense would be wrong. Present tense. Linda is Megan's family. Now. Already. Without a ring, without a ceremony, without anything official. Just love and Wednesday afternoon radiation drives.

Linda is handling it with the grace of someone who has decided that cancer is an inconvenience, not a catastrophe. She goes to treatment, she comes home, she calls her friends, she goes to church. She told the prayer group and they prayed for her and she prayed for them and then they all had coffee cake. Linda's version of fighting cancer involves a lot of coffee cake.

At the brewery, the sour beer program is moving forward. I'm working on the second batch — a different yeast strain, a different base beer, a longer fermentation. The first batch taught me things: patience, trust, the willingness to let something be what it's going to be instead of forcing it into what you think it should be. Brewing sours is a lot like life. You set the conditions and then you wait and hope and adjust and wait some more.

Made a massive batch of chicken soup for Linda — Babcia's recipe, homemade stock, carrots, celery, dill, egg noodles. The soup that heals. I don't know if soup actually heals anything. I know that making it heals me, and eating it makes Linda feel loved, and maybe that's what healing is. Not medicine. Just love, delivered in a bowl, every week, until the radiation is done.

Babcia’s chicken soup is the weekly anchor right now — the big pot I make on Sunday that says I’m here, I’m not going anywhere. But between those Sunday batches, when the week is long and I still want to put something real and nourishing on the table without standing over a stove for two hours, this bruschetta chicken pasta salad is what I reach for. It’s got the same spirit as the soup — chicken, simple ingredients, made with intention — just lighter, faster, and bright in a way that feels like a Wednesday afternoon when Megan pulls back into the school parking lot knowing she did something good.

Prep Time: 15 min | Cook Time: 20 min | Total Time: 35 min | Servings: 6

Ingredients

12 oz rotini or penne pasta
1 1/2 lbs boneless, skinless chicken breasts
2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt, plus more for pasta water
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
2 cups cherry tomatoes, halved
1/2 cup sun-dried tomatoes, roughly chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/3 cup fresh basil leaves, torn
1/4 cup red onion, finely diced
3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1/3 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Instructions

Cook the pasta. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Cook pasta according to package directions until al dente. Drain, rinse briefly with cool water, and set aside in a large mixing bowl.
Season and cook the chicken. Pat chicken breasts dry. Drizzle with 1 tablespoon olive oil and season evenly with garlic powder, Italian seasoning, salt, and pepper. Heat the remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Cook chicken 6–7 minutes per side, until cooked through and internal temperature reaches 165°F. Transfer to a cutting board and let rest 5 minutes.
Make the bruschetta base. While the chicken rests, combine cherry tomatoes, sun-dried tomatoes, minced garlic, red onion, balsamic vinegar, and extra-virgin olive oil in a bowl. Stir and let sit 5 minutes so the flavors meld.
Slice the chicken. Cut the rested chicken into bite-sized pieces or thin slices.
Toss everything together. Add the chicken, bruschetta mixture, and torn basil to the pasta. Toss gently to combine. Taste and adjust salt, pepper, or balsamic to your liking.
Finish and serve. Transfer to a serving platter or individual bowls. Top with freshly grated Parmesan. Serve warm, at room temperature, or chilled — it holds well either way.

Nutrition (per serving)

Bruschetta Chicken Pasta Salad — The Soup That Heals, and the Salad That Keeps You Going