Chicken Pesto Pasta Salad

The boys made pasta salads for lunch today (with a bit of help from me).  We had some chicken thighs in the fridge that needed using up, as well as some homemade pesto, and some tuna, so we decided to make two pasta salads, a tuna one, and a chicken pesto one. The tuna pasta salad is the same as the recipe below, except you just add tuna, sliced black olives and chopped boiled egg instead of the chicken and pesto, and dress it with some homemade mayonnaise, or balsamic vinegar.  
Pasta salad is something I don't really use specific amounts for, so excuse my vague measurements - and the ingredients always vary with whatever I have in the fridge, so use your imagination :)

1.  Cook up a batch of pasta - I usually use shells or spirals - as much you think will feed your family:
- 250g (or more) pasta (I use gluten free Orgran pasta)

If you're adding broccoli to your salad, cook it with the pasta, adding it during the last few minutes of cooking time:
- one head of broccoli, cut into florets

Tip the pasta (and broccoli) into a colander in the sink, and rinse well with cold water.  Tip into a big salad bowl (or two).

2.  In Thermomix bowl, cook at 100 degrees, 8 mins, reverse, speed soft:
- a couple of handfuls of cubed chicken thighs/breasts
- 2 Tablespoons of olive oil
(You may need to stop halfway through and push chicken off blades with spatula.)

3.  Now, this is where all the little helping hands come in useful...  Prepare whichever of the following additions you like, and mix them into the pasta and broccoli, along with the cooked chicken and pesto:
- a few big blobs of fresh basil & cashew pesto (with or without parmesan, just add salt if not adding parmesan)
- a drizzle of olive oil
- grated carrot
- thinly sliced celery 
- torn lettuce leaves
- baby spinach leaves
- semi-dried tomato strips
- halved cherry tomatos
- cucumber pieces
- sliced black olives
- thinly sliced Spanish onion
- sliced shallots
etcetera...

Season with salt and freshly ground black pepper, and enjoy!

P.S.  This would also be really nice with sun-dried tomato and red capsicum pesto - my favourite! You can find the recipes for both these pestos in the Thermomix Everyday Cookbook.