Monday, May 30

Summer Pasta Salad

With the unofficial start to summer today, I had this hankering for pasta salad.  Funny thing is that the weather doesn't match my summer food mood.  At all.  The sky is full of ominous gray clouds and I can hear the thunder rolling in the distance.  Ah, well--I still made the salad and I although I will share my recipe, I won't share how many platefuls I had for lunch.



























Summer Pasta Salad

6 cups pasta, uncooked (I use tri-colored because it looks pretty--it's not whole wheat and that's only because I can't seem to find tri-colored-whole-wheat-pasta)

2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup minced onions (red would be more appealing to the eye, but whatever you have--I had yellow--works)
1 can black olives, drained
3/4 cup artichoke hearts, sliced in thin strips
8 oz. mushrooms, sliced
2 roma tomatoes, seeded and chopped
1/2-3/4 cup grated Parmesan, plus more for serving
6 large basil leaves, chiffonade
1/4 cup fresh parsley, minced
Extra virgin olive oil
Red wine vinegar
Salt and pepper

Cook pasta according to package directions, rinse in cold water to stop cooking and to start cooling down pasta.  Drain pasta well and drizzle with extra virgin olive oil to prevent sticking and set aside.

Slice, mince, or chop remaining ingredients and combine with pasta.  Drizzle generously with olive oil and vinegar, to taste.  Season with salt and pepper as needed.    Serve with additional Parmesan for garnish, if desired.  Serve slightly cooled or at room temperature--which ever you prefer. As you can see, much of this is flexible--that's pretty much how it goes in the kitchen for me! 

This a great salad to have on hand for an easy lunch during the week.  It is also great for barbeques and potlucks as it doesn't have any mayonnaise in the dressing that you would need to worry about refrigerating. 

♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

This recipe is linked to:

Beauty and Bedlam's Tasty Tuesday
Blessed With Grace Tempt My Tummy Tuesday
Designs By Gollum Foodie Friday
Grocery Cart Challenge Recipe Swap
Friday Potluck at EKat's Kitchen
Hearth 'n Soul Recipe Swap  

La Bella Vita's Fresh Clean and Pure Friday 

Life As Mom Ultimate Recipe Swap
Miz Helen's Country Cottage Full Plate Thursday 

This Chick Cooks Recipe Swap 

10 comments:

Laurie said...

I love salads like this! They are big hits at gatherings even with whole wheat pasta. Really delicious!

Katie @ This Chick Cooks said...

That pasta salad looks wonderful and I love your picture- it is so bright and clear. I wanted to invite you to come over and show off your summer salad at These Chicks Cooked Recipe Spotlight today. Have a blessed day :)
Katie

The Wise Alternative 918-836-0565 said...

I don't eat it near often enough but I love a great pasta salad! Yours looks great!

Thanks for sharing at the hearth and soul hop.

Greenderella said...

I've been looking for a new vegetarian salad recipe. This one looks perfect! Thanks for sharing :-)

Miz Helen said...

Hi Jackie,
First let me say that photo of your little girl in your header is just precious. Now for that wonderful Pasta Salad. I just love a nice Pasta Salad in the summer, your recipe looks so cool and fresh. Thanks for sharing with Full Plate Thursday and come back soon!

Anonymous said...

Now this is the kind of salad I can like. And on a hot summer day you can serve it to the family as a main meal with no problem. Hello! I'm your newest follower from the foodie blog hop and I'm so glad I found your blog. I hope you'll come visit and follow me too. I have some great desserts I'm sure you'll love. Thanks!

Amy said...

What a refreshing way to start summer! Love this pasta salad! I know I can probably finished 1/2 a recipe all by myself! LOL. thanks for sharing.

BTW, I'm hosting 2 giveaways on my blog. One for $50 Thrive products and the other one is baking molds and more. Please stop by and check them out. Have a wonderful weekend.

Amy
http://utry.it

Katie @ This Chick Cooks said...

Thanks for sharing your recipe. I'm featuring it Wednesday. Have a good day.
Katie

Chef in Training said...

YUM! This looks amazing! I can't wait to try this! I found your blog through a link party and i LOVE it! I love making new blog friends! I am your newest follower and would love it if you would check out my blog and follow me too! Thanks!
-Nikki
http://chef-n-training.blogspot.com/

Roz | La Bella Vita Cucina said...

Thank you so much for sharing this incredibly delicious and beautiful pasta salad last week on Fresh Food Friday....i loved it so much that I featured it today on this week's edition. I hope you can stop by, check it out, and possibly follow if you choose. Now following you and don't want to miss a recipe! Happy weekend, Roz

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