Whenever I need a quick and easy dish to bring to a party, this is my go to. I generally have all of the ingredients in my cupboard and can whip it up in a quick minute. You can interchange the fixings, particularly the cheese. I tend to favor feta or smoked mozzarella, but Rob loves him some smoked gouda so this time I put that in.
For the salad:
8 oz short pasta (I used penne)
1/2 cup chopped sundried tomatoes
1/2 cup chopped roasted red peppers
3/4 cup chopped artichoke hearts
1/4 cup cheese of choice
Handful of arugula
Cook pasta according to box. Chop sundried tomatoes, roasted red peppers and artichoke hearts. Once pasta is cooked, strain, rinse with cold water and strain again. Mix in remaining ingredients.
Dressing:
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
1/2 cup olive oil
2 tsp. dijon mustard
2 tsp. garlic gold with italian spices (or own mix of garlic powder, basil and oregano)
salt to taste
Please note that you will end up with way more dressing than you need for this pasta salad. This is one I like to keep on hand if the pasta salad needs more dressing later (or I need a balsamic dressing for a salad). Mix vinegar, mustard, and spices. While whisking the vinegar mixture drizzle in olive oil. Taste and add salt, mustard or spices as needed.
Pour small amount to pasta salad, stir and taste. Add more dressing as needed.
Sit down, eat and enjoy.
Workout:
I had a great run in the rain this morning. I tackled some hills even though I had a tempo run. Much of my concern about being able to do my tempo runs on my neighborhood hills were for naught. I did pretty well given one mile is totally uphill. I’m pretty darn happy with my time today!
Mile 1 – 9:48
Mile 2 – 8:36
Mile 3 – 8:29
Mile 4 – 8:13
Mile 5 – 9:32
Total Time: 44:41
Total Mileage: 5 miles
