Wednesday, January 25, 2012

An appetizer


"What can I bring?" I asked.
"Bring a healthy appetizer to go with the Pinot Noir we'll be sipping as I fix dinner," she said.
"Uh sure thing!"

But I was using up all the food in the fridge because we were leaving on vacation soon and then I had another trip to see family the following week. So I had to make something out of what I had on hand, and what I had on hand wasn't much. Plus she requested that the dish be healthy and also go with red wine. So with those restrictions in mind, this is what I made.

Ingredients:

  • 1/4 C feta cheese crumbles
  • 1/4 C balsamic vinaigrette (I used Paul Newman's Own Lighten Up version)
  • about 1/2 C each diced cherry tomatoes and sliced mushrooms
  • Finely sliced red onion, about two or three slices; then cut the slices into smaller pieces
  • 1/3 to 1/2 C cooked pasta (I used my favorite Gemelli)

Directions:
  1. Cook the pasta according to package directions; drain and allow to cool.
  2. While the pasta is cooking, prep the vegetables.
  3. Assemble the vegetables, feta crumbles and dressing in a bowl large enough to hold everything. Toss well.
  4. Once the pasta is cool, add to the bowl and toss again.
  5. Enjoy!
Note: Obviously you could use Parmesan cheese but again, I had to go with what was on hand. This is a basic pasta salad and can be gussied up with whatever you like. If I'd had any, I'd have put artichoke hearts in there too, and also roasted red peppers. But I didn't have any.

2 comments:

Ben Shear said...

what do you eat this with? crackers or something?

edj3 said...

We ate it as a pasta salad. I suppose you could just leave off the pasta and have the marinated veggies with crackers.

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