Mediterranean Pasta Salad
Spending hours in a hot kitchen with the oven cracking is not ideal as the days get warmer. Sunny days call for quick and easy recipes with minimal cook time and this pasta salad is perfect for that. The only cooking involved is the pasta and the majority of the other ingredients are pantry staples. Using salty olives and feta cheese, and sweet roasted red peppers and sun-dried tomatoes, with briney capers and a vinegar heavy dressing, this pasta salad packs a lot of flavor without taking much of your time.
While the water boils and the pasta cooks, chop the other ingredients and add them to a large bowl. Once the pasta is ready, drain and run under cold water to cool and stop the cooking process, then add to the bowl with the other ingredients. Whisk the dressing together in a small bowl or measuring cup and pour over the bowl with the pasta and mix well to get everything coated and combined. And that's it!
This is a great make-ahead option if you are headed to a cookout or as something to keep in the fridge to pick at for lunch during the week.
Mediterranean Pasta Salad
Ingredients:
- I box pasta (I used rotini, the nooks are good for holding onto all the bits of flavor)
- 3/4 cup roasted red peppers, diced
- 3/4 cup feta cheese
- 1/2 cup Kalamata olives, pitted and halved
- 1/2 cup sun-dried tomatoes, julienned
- 1/2 cup red onion, small diced (about half a medium onion)
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 3 tablespoons red wine vinegar
- 1 tablespoon capers, roughly chopped
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1 teaspoon honey
- black pepper to taste
Instructions:
- COOK: Bring a pot of salted water to a boil and cook pasta according to package directions.
- CHOP: Prep and chop the other salad ingredients and place in a large bowl.
- MIX: In a small bowl , whisk together the dressing ingredients.
- COMBINE: Add the cooked and cooled pasta to the large bowl and pour the dressing over top. Mix well to combine and coat salad in dressing. Top with a few extra crumbles of feta.