Tortellini Pasta Salad October 30, 2010

 

Well folks, I’m down to the wire: this baby is coming to stay sometime in the next 2 1/2 weeks! (Unless she is late of course), and I just started Maternity leave today! (Okay, I know it is Saturday so I guess it really starts on Monday, but still!) I have horrible sciatica and can barely walk at the morning, so that means I can finally sit down and update this blog with lots more backlogged recipes, hooray!

Today I give you a lovely summer salad, even though its um, almost November. Really though, I just love pasta salad. I can eat it all year round, and I love that you make it for dinner, pack some for lunch the next day, and it tastes even better then as the flavors had time to mix about and be even more awesome! You can’t go wrong with pasta salad. Ever!

I forget where this came from, and I do feel badly about that. I know it came form some blog or something, but at the time I had just cut and pasted the recipe to word and printed it out for some reason so I can’t attribute it to anyone. If it is yours, please let me know!

Tortellini Pasta Salad

1 lb of your favorite tortellini (I used fresh four cheese)

1 c. grape tomatoes, halved

5 carrots, sliced thin (Or be lazy like me and buy a bag of the matchbook diced ones and use like a cup!)

1/4 c of your favorite olives (I like mine cute into bite sized rings)

8 oz fresh mozzarella balls (Or do diced regular mozzarella or shredded if you can’t have the fresh, thats what I did)

1 c. olive oil

1/2 tsp whole fresh thyme (can always sub. dried)

1 tbsp minced garlic

2 lemons, zested

1/4 c. freshly squeezed lemon juice

1 tsp. dijon mustard

2 tbsp champagne or white wine vinegar  (I had white wine so used that)

2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp black pepper

grated parmesan for the top

Method:

Cook pasta according to directions, drain..

Meanwhile, add tomatoes, carrots, cheese and olives to a large bowl and combine with the pasta when it is ready.

Heat the olive oil in a medium saute pan and add the thyme, garlic and lemon zest. Cook over low heat for 1 minute. Off the heat add the lemon juice, mustard, vinegar, salt and pepper. Pour the hot vinaigrette over the pasta and enjoy!!

Pita Bread Salad October 13, 2010

This one comes from Rachel Ray’s website. I added grilled chicken to it to make it more of a meal and it was really really good! Great in the summer, but great any time you don’t feel like doing a  ton of cooking either!

Pita Bread Salad

4 pitas, cut into bite-size pieces
1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 clove garlic, chopped
Salt and pepper
2 small cucumbers, peeled and chopped
3 tomatoes, chopped
1 small red bell pepper, chopped
4 scallions, thinly sliced
1/4 cup chopped flat-leaf parsley
1/4 cup chopped fresh mint
1 small head romaine lettuce, torn into pieces

Method:

Preheat the oven to 350°. Transfer the pitas to a baking sheet; bake until crisp, about 10 minutes. *I drizzled some olive oil on the pitas and added some salt and pepper for extra oomph.

In a large bowl, whisk together the olive oil, lemon juice and garlic; season with salt and pepper. Stir in the cucumbers, tomatoes, bell pepper, scallions, parsley, mint and pitas. Add the lettuce and toss. *I added grilled chicken to it, just simply cooked and cut into bite size pieces.

Enjoy!