Eat Laugh Purr

Be Inspired: To Cook, To Laugh, To Dream

Greek Pasta Salad

by Tanya

Greek Pasta Salad

I tease many of my native California friends for being cold-weather wimps. And I don’t feel bad. They are wimps! They wear winter coats and scarves when it’s 60 degrees outside while I’m in shorts and flip-flops. Wimps! But don’t worry, they get their revenge.

I am a warm-weather wimp. Yup, when the weather heats up, Tanya hides in her air-conditioned apartment. Anything above 80 degrees and I start to complain. Too hot! Too hot! The one good thing about hot summer days is that I crave lighter foods (generally), which is always kinder to my waistline.

Light, but still filling, salads are frequently on the menu during hot days. I particularly enjoy greek salads. They contain some of my favorite veggies including, tomatoes, artichokes and cucumbers. I also added some spinach to boost up it’s good-for-you quotient, then tossed in some cubed salami and salty feta cheese so it wasn’t too healthy. 🙂

Greek Pasta Salad

This salad is very versatile, and you can easily swap in your favorite veggies. It is very portable for picnics and BBQs and keeps for several days in the fridge, which is great on busy days. I can just fill my plate and dinner is ready.

Print Recipe

Greek Pasta Salad

Servings: 8 -10 servings

Ingredients

  • 1 16 ounce box of bow tie pasta
  • 2 cups grape tomatoes halved
  • 1 large cucumber chopped
  • 1 14 ounce can of artichoke hearts
  • 1 bag of baby spinach
  • 2 cups of diced salami
  • 1/2 red onion chopped
  • 1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese

Dressing Ingredients

  • 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
  • 3 tablespoons red wine vinegar
  • 1 clove garlic minced
  • 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
  • Salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

  • Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Cook pasta according to the package directions. Drain pasta and rinse with cold water. Cool to room temperature.
  • Meanwhile chop all the veggies, then combine tomatoes, red onion, cucumber, artichoke, spinach and salami in a large bowl. Add cooled pasta to bowl.
  • Combine olive oil, red wine vinegar, garlic, oregano, salt, and pepper in a small bowl and whisk together. Pour vinaigrette over salad, then add crumbled feta cheese and stir together. Serve immediately or refrigerate until serving.

Notes

You can substitute chicken breasts or garbanzo beans for the salami. And feel free to swap in your favorite meats and veggies. Chicken breast, garbanzo beans, red bell peppers and black olives would be great additions/substitutions.
Adapted from Two Peas and Their Pod

Tanya