Today's grativibe is about the perfect balance between veggies and carbs.
Yay - it's summer! Albeit, probably not the summer any of us imagined, but quarantine doesn't stop me from craving picnic foods. And what's a picnic without pasta salad?
This one has few stellar things going for it:
- It's lighter than the typical mayonnaise-based pasta salads.
- The fresh vegetables, tangy sun-dried tomatoes, and briny olives & capers are a beautiful blend of flavors against the bowtie background.
- One serving is generous and only a smidgen over 200 calories without the feta (as shown in the photo).
Colorful and super easy to make, you'll want this one on the buffet!
Mediterranean Pasta Salad
Ingredients
SALAD
- 1 pound farfalle pasta, cook al dente in salted water
- 12 ounces grape tomatoes, quartered (12 ounces = 2 cups)
- 8 ounces fresh spinach, chopped
- 5 ounces Kalamata olives, pitted and diced (5 ounces = 1 cup)
DRESSING
- 8 ounces sun-dried tomatoes in olive oil, chopped fine; keep oil for dressing
- 6 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, ONLY ADD IF YOU DON'T USE OIL FROM TOMATOES
- ¼ cup red wine vinegar
- 2 teaspoons capers, drained
- 1 ½ teaspoons garlic, minced
- 1 teaspoon fine sea salt
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
OPTIONAL FINISH
- 6 ounces feta cheese, VEGANS: OMIT.
- 2 tablespoons fresh italian flat-leaf parsley, chopped
Instructions
- Place the pasta in a bowl and add the remaining salad ingredients.
- For the dressing, combine the sun-dried tomatoes, vinegar, olive oil, garlic, capers, salt and pepper in a food processor until almost smooth.Alternately, you can finely chop the sun-dried tomatoes and capers (or leave capers whole), then whisk all dressing ingredients in a small bowl.
- Pour the dressing over the pasta, sprinkle with crumbled feta and parsley, and toss well.
- Refrigerate a couple hours to let flavors meld. Before serving, sprinkle with crumbled feta and parsley, and toss well.
- Enjoy!
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