Kara's Summer Pasta Salad

I was looking for something to fix for lunch today that didn't require me cooking up a whole chicken or pork roast, which are pretty much what I had thawed in the refrigerator! I was on AllRecipes, and searching for something with canned chicken - I was thinking of making some sort of chicken salad. Then I saw some pasta salad recipes and this one looked great, and easily adjusted to personal tastes and preferences. I omitted the green onions called for in the original recipe and also didn't use the called for eggs or sunflower seeds. Kenneth doesn't like eggs and although I think the sunflower seeds would be great in this I didn't have any in the pantry. I added some garlic powder and chopped celery and really enjoyed the way this one came out! Made a great lunch dish.

Ingredients ready to go.

Adding mayo and seasoning in the bottom of the bowl.

Mixed together the mayo and seasonings, pasta, chicken, celery, and cheese.

Steaming the edamame.

Adding edamame to pasta mixture.

Final dish, ready to chill and enjoy!

Kara's Summer Salad (slightly modified) by Karebear98 on AllRecipes.com

Ingredients
1 (12 ounce) package elbow macaroni
8 ounces shelled edamame, or more to taste
1/4 cup mayonnaise, or more if needed
1/4 teaspoon celery seed
1/4 teaspoon paprika
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 (12 ounce) can premium canned chicken, drained and minced
3 medium stalks celery, finely chopped
3 hard-cooked eggs, chopped (optional)
2 tablespoons sunflower seed kernels, or to taste (optional)
1/4 cup shredded Cheddar cheese

Directions

1. Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Cook elbow macaroni in the boiling water, stirring occasionally, until cooked through but firm to the bite, about 10 minutes; drain, rinse with cool water, and drain again. When pasta is rinsed add to bowl with mayonnaise mixture.
2. While the pasta is cooking, in a large bowl stir mayonnaise, celery seed, paprika, salt, garlic powder, and black pepper together.
3. Add more lightly salted water to the pot and bring it to a boil. Cook edamame in boiling water for 5-10 minutes; drain. Rinse with cold water; drain and add to bowl.
4. Toss macaroni, edamame, celery, chicken, eggs, sunflower seed kernels, cheddar cheese, and mayonnaise mixture and stir to coat.
5. Chill in refrigerator until cold, 30 to 60 minutes.