Tortellini Pasta Salad with Salami and Cheese

I'm adding to our summer pasta dinners!  Another great recipe from Chef Ryan Scott on the TODAY show!  I've modified a few things, but here's the original 20-minute-pasta-salads.

Tortellini Pasta Salad with Salami and Cheese
Vinaigrette Ingredients:
1/3 cup red wine vinegar
3 garlic cloves, pressed
1/3 cup Dijon mustard
1/4 cup red onion, minced
3 tablespoons capers, minced
1/2 teaspoon sugar
2 teaspoons kosher salt
2 teaspoons black pepper
1 tablespoon dried parsley
1 cup olive oil
16 ounces canned chickpeas or garbanzo beans
Tortellini Pasta Salad:
3 cups store-bought cheese tortellini
3/4 cup thick-cut salami, chopped
1 cup provolone, diced
1/2 cup feta cheese, crumbled
13 ounces jarred marinated artichoke hearts, drained and chopped
6-1/2 ounces jarred roasted bell peppers, sliced
1/2 cup Kalamata olives, sliced
Salt and pepper, to taste

For Vinaigrette:
In a medium bowl, add the red wine vinegar, garlic, Dijon mustard, onion, capers, sugar, salt and pepper.  Stir to combine and let sit for 5 minutes to break down the rawness of the red onion.  Add the parsley, olive oil and chickpeas.  Stir until incorporated.  Set aside.


For Pasta Salad:
Bring large pot of lightly salted water to a rolling boil.  Cook the tortellini at a boil, stirring occasionally, until pasta floats to the top and filling is hot.  Drain.  In a large bowl, add the pasta and 2 cups of the vinaigrette.  Add the salami, provolone cheese, feta, artichoke hearts, olives and black pepper.  Stir to combine and serve.  Add additional dressing to taste.

Matcha Green Tea with Mint and Lime

We went to a local farmers market on Sunday and I was thirsty...  water didn't sound good and I am a water drinker...  I'll crave a soda every now and then.  Break into some iced coffee.  Brew up some herbal tea.  We came across a local coffee brewer and they had a sign out for green tea.  I fell in love.  Don't get me wrong, I like tea.  Mine is usually just the tea bag, maybe some honey and that's about it.  This tea was so refreshing!  My girls tried it and even liked it!  I decided to try and reinvent it!  I don't think I did too bad...

Matcha Green Tea with Mint and Lime

8 Matcha Green Tea bags
1/4 cup fresh mint leaves
2 limes, sliced
2 quarts water

Heat water to boiling temperature.  Add mint leaves and tea bags.  Allow tea to steep for about 5-8 minutes. Add lime slices.  To serve pour over a full glass of ice, top with fresh mint leaf and enjoy!

Raspberry Lemonade Pie

I love lemon ... anything .. but especially in the summer!  I ran across a Creamy Lemon Pie Recipe from Kelsey at Favorite Family Recipes http://www.favfamilyrecipes.com/creamy-lemon-pie/ .  I made a few of my own modifications, but it was a hit!  I think you could easily use any kind of berry in this recipe.  The frozen raspberries I used seemed to be a bit tart - which I think is fairly normal for frozen raspberries.  If you wanted a little sweeter fruit I would recommend fresh fruit...  Or if you are really a sweet loving kind-of person, toss whatever berry you use in just a little bit of powdered sugar.

Raspberry Lemonade Pie

1 prepared graham cracker crust
1-3/4 cup cold milk
2  4-serving pkgs vanilla instant pudding
1 can frozen lemonade concentrate, thawed
1  8oz. container of whipped topping, thawed
12 oz frozen raspberries (save a handful for the garnish)
Lemon slices or extra berries for garnish

In a large bowl, add milk and pudding - whisk until well blended.  Add the lemonade concentrate and blend well.  Fold in berries and whipped topping.  Pour into prepared crust.  Freeze!  Add garnish just before serving.  Allow to sit for about 5-10 minutes before slicing.

 

Pasta Salad with Grilled Lemon-Dijon Vinaigrette

If you are like me, you hate heating up the kitchen during the dog days of summer - but a girl's got to eat!!  I happened upon this new recipe from Chef Ryan Scott - Easy Crab Pasta Salad with Grilled Lemon-Dijon Vinaigrette...  I thought to myself --- this might be a good one for when we move. (Side note:  we are moving to Maryland - known for their crab.)  Then I decided - why wait til we move??  I made a few modifications, but you can find the original recipe here http://on.today.com/29oPqBy

Pasta Salad with Grilled Lemon-Dijon Vinaigrette

Vinaigrette:
3 large lemons, quartered
1/4 cup Dijon mustard
1 teaspoon honey
1 cup extra-virgin olive oil (I actually used grapeseed oil)
2 teaspoons kosher salt
Freshly ground pepper

Salad:
1-1/2 cups haricots verts or green beans, cut into bite-size pieces
1.5 lbs cheese filled tortellini
2 cups cherry tomatoes, halved
1 tablespoon dried parsley (or 1/4 cup fresh flat leaf Italian)
1 teaspoon dried chives (or 2 tablespoons fresh chives)
1 tablespoon dried tarragon leaves
1/4-1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese
1 avocado, diced

Grill lemon quarters on grill or in grill pan until charred.  Once cooled, using a citrus press*, juice lemons.  Add lemon juice, mustard, honey, oil, salt and pepper to a mason jar - put on the lid and shake it up really good.

In a large pot, add water and 1/2 tsp kosher salt to water.  Bring water to a boil and add haricot verts, cook for 2-3 minutes until tender crisp.  Take haricot verts from boiling water and put them in an ice bath (water with ice cubes - to stop the cooking process).  Drain and pat dry.
Bring another large pot of water to boil, add tortellini.  Cook for approximate 2 minutes.  Drain.
Mix tomatoes, haricot verts, parsley, chives and tarragon together.  Once the tortellini is cooled add it to the vegetable mix along with the feta and avocado.  Add vinaigrette and toss gently.

Enjoy!


*Don't have a citrus press - using a wooden spoon crush all of the juice from the lemons, discard skins and seeds.

Oriental Chicken Salad

I recently posted on Facebook and Instagram about one of our favorite salads... Oriental Chicken Salad!!  Here's the recipe:

Oriental Chicken Salad

1 head Napa cabbage, shredded

1/4 - 1/3 head red cabbage, shredded

Optional Toppings:

Mandarin Orange segments

Chow Mein Noodles

Peanuts/Cashews

Green Onions

Sesame Seeds (Toasted or not)

Grilled Chicken, sliced (marinated in dressing or seasoned)

Ramen Noodles (dried and broken up)

Dressing (taken from Pampered Chef Mix, Measure & Pour):

1/3 cup Rice Vinegar

3 tablespoons soy sauce

2 teaspoons sugar

1 pressed garlic clove

1/4 teaspoon ground ginger

3/4 cup vegetable oil

Combine ingredients for dressing and refrigerate (can be made a day early).  Combine 2 types of cabbage, add optional toppings, dressing and ENJOY!

Side Note:  Love my Pampered Chef Mix, Measure and Pour for dressing!!  I also use their Asian Seasoning on my chicken if I don't marinade it.

Sour Cream Scones

I love breakfast!  I think it's probably my favorite meal of the day!  I'm always looking for new and different recipes.  I stumbled upon this one (yes, on Pinterest) and thought we'd give it a try.  It's so light and tasty.  I love that you can smother the scones in whatever you're craving - butter & honey, jam, you name it!  I think you could definitely add fruit to it too! 

Sour Cream Scones

2 cups  flour

3 TBS sugar

2 TBS baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

5 TBS butter, cubed

1 cup sour cream

1 egg yolk

1/2 cup heavy cream

1/4 cup sanding sugar

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

Mix together flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt.  Cut in cold butter using a pastry blender.  Add egg yolk and sour cream until just combined.  Turn out dough on lightly floured surface and knead until the dough comes together.  Gently pat dough into a 3/4 inch square shape.  Cut dough into 4 smaller squares, then cut smaller squares into triangles.  Brush the tops with heavy cream and sprinkle with sanding sugar.  Bake in preheated oven for 12-14 minutes.  Remove from oven, cool slightly.  Eat warm with butter, jam, lemon curd or honey. 

So Tasty!

Recipe taken from StoneGable.

Pumpkin Hot Chocolate

We woke up this morning and it was snowing...yuck!  We needed something warm....   I'm not a huge fan of regular hot chocolate, but I'd seen a recipe on Pinterest that caught my eye - Pumpkin Hot chocolate.  I love pumpkin anything, so why not in hot chocolate?
Thanks to Kara's Party because this hot chocolate is quite simply - the best!!

Ingredients:
2 cups milk
1/2 tsp vanilla
3/4 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1/2 cup pumpkin puree

1/8 teaspoon ginger powder
2 oz semi-sweet chocolate chips
Whipped cream

Instructions:
Heat milk over low heat in a saucepan. Stir in pumpkin puree, sugar and dry goods and beat until smooth. Add chocolate chips and continue to heat about 8 minutes, stirring almost the whole time. Garnish with whipped cream and nutmeg if desired.

Makes about 5 servings.

Enjoy!