A few weeks ago I met a friend and her kids at the park for a last minute play date. My husband was working late that night so she invited my kids and me over for dinner. We hung out in her kitchen and visited as I watched her effortlessly throw together a delicious Greek Pasta Salad. It was so good and appeared so easy to make, I decided to make something similar later that week. It’s a healthy, filling meal, perfect for lunch or dinner. I made a big batch so that my husband could easily take it to work for lunch, and we brought some to the park one night for a picnic. I imagine this is one I will be making often this summer as it is the perfect picnic meal!
Here is what you will need to make my version of a Greek Pasta Salad (and all the ingredients can be purchased in one quick Trader Joe’s run!):
- 1/2 cucumber, chopped
- 1/2 pint grape tomatoes, halved
- 1 cup Greek Kalamata Olives, halved
- 1 cup jarred Marinated Artichokes, chopped
- 3 oz. crumbled feta cheese
- 1 package Trader Joe’s Brown Rice Pasta Fusilli (or any other pasta)
- 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
- olive oil
- salt and pepper to taste
Cook pasta according to package instructions. Pour cooked pasta into a colander to drain and rinse with cold water to cool the pasta. Once the pasta is cool, toss with all ingredients. Drizzle with a little olive oil and add salt and pepper to taste. This pasta salad is easy to adjust to your taste, just add more or less of any ingredient.
We had plans to go some friends’ house for dinner the night after I made the pasta salad, so I decided to use my remaining ingredients and a few others to make a Greek salad to bring with us. I was able to prep everything the night before when I made the pasta salad so that the salad was ready the following day and I only had to prep once for two meals! To make my Green Greek Salad, combine the following in a large bowl:
- 1 bag of spring mix
- 1/2 cucumber, diced
- 1/2 pint grape tomatoes, halved
- 1 cup Greek Kalamata Olives, halved
- 1 cup Marinated Artichoke Hearts, chopped
- 3 oz. crumbled feta
I searched online for a Greek salad dressing recipe, and found this one from Ina Garten. It was delicious and super easy, plus I already had all of the ingredients on hand! I think this could also be great with the Greek pasta salad. It is definitely one I will make again!
sobremesa 