Deconstructed Pasta Salad with Lemon Chardonnay Vinaigrette

May 6, 2014 By Leave a Comment

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 I love this salad because:

1. I think it looks beautiful and

2. It is so yummy and full of farmer’s market fresh ingredients.

This is the type of salad that is to surely please your guests. A deconstructed pasta salad is great because you can use any ingredients, but I chose these specific ingredients because they are all in season for spring, the bright colors, and they all came from the farm (besides the pasta of course.)

I loved the color of the egg yolks, and I was able to include these farm fresh eggs in this salad because it is deconstructed. If I mixed this salad all together, the eggs would fall apart. Honestly, the eggs with this vinaigrette could be a snack all on its own it is so tasty. So I couldn’t leave them out.

I wanted it to be easy for my guests to take a scoop of the salad ingredients and not worry about the dressing. So I tossed the pasta and mozzarella balls before I placed them in their line up. However, if guests wanted more, they could always add more vinaigrette.

This salad was perfect for my Farm-to-Table potluck that I threw. With all the fresh ingredients, it was the perfect accompaniment.

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Deconstructed Pasta Salad with a Lemon Chardonnay Vinaigrette

Ingredients

    Salad
  • 2 cups mini bowtie pasta
  • 1 english cucumber
  • 1 cup heirloom mini tomatoes cut in half
  • 6 - 7 basil leaves chopped
  • 1 1/2 cup french green beans
  • 3 - 4 hard boiled eggs cut in quarters
  • 1 cup mini mozzarella balls
    • Lemon Chardonnay Vinaigrette
  • 1/3 cup chardonnay
  • 1/4 cup fresh squeezed lemon juice
  • 1 tsp. honey
  • salt & pepper
  • 3/4 cup olive oil

Instructions

    Salad
  1. On a large platter, line each ingredient next to each other in rows except for the pasta and mozzarella. Cook pasta per instructions. Rinse. Toss pasta in vinaigrette and line in row. Toss mozzarella in vinaigrette and line on platter.
    2. Vinaigrette
  2. Whisk lemon, chardonnay, honey, salt and pepper in a bowl. Slowly whisk in olive oil. Chill for an hour. Will last for 1 week covered and refrigerated.
https://mycookingspot.com/deconstructed-pasta-salad-with-lemon-chardonnay-vinaigrette/

 

 

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You can see all the Farm-to-Table recipes for my potluck here. 

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Spring Farmers Market Tacos

March 26, 2014 By 1 Comment

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Spring weather is finally beginning to show up and that means farmers markets are beginning to look bountiful after the meager winter months. To celebrate, I put together a little appetizer made entirely of farmers market sourced ingredients. It’s simple to make, aside from some precision chopping, and meets a number of allergy friendly requirements with the exception of the cream cheese. I’ve called it a taco, since that’s the best way to describe how to eat it. You grasp the sides, pinch together, and the cream cheese grips the radishes and chives.

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You should be able to find all the produce at your local farmers market if spring weather has made it to your part of the world and if you’re lucky – you may find some fresh and locally produced cream cheese.  If you’ve never had fresh cream cheese, I would highly recommend seeking it out and using it instead of anything that comes in a box. Here in Seattle, my favorite dairy vendor is Glendale Shepherd – who can be found at the University District Market.

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Zucchini Ribbon “Pasta” with Almond Basil Pesto

March 10, 2014 By 1 Comment

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With bikini season around the corner, I have been looking for ways to cut some calories, but I don’t want to cut any taste out, because that never works for me. I am too much of a foodie. I have heard of using vegetables in place of pasta, but I don’t have a mandoline, or the machine that cuts the veggies into the cute spaghetti strings, so I had to compromise.

I decided to take a vegetable peeler and just peel my slices of zucchini into beautiful ribbons. I actually liked it a lot better. I have been trying to think of other vegetables that I could peel into ribbons. Eating healthy can be fun! Or so I like to tell myself.

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I also wanted to get some healthy omega vitamins so I decided to make an almond pesto rather than using the traditional pine nuts. I like the nuttiness flavor that the almond brings and the texture of the almonds replace the parmesan cheese that I did not add. However, you can absolutely add parmesan to this recipe, I just chose to exclude it to save some calories, and I didn’t miss it for one minute.

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