Warm Pasta Salad

I love coming up with things to use a lot of leftover vegetables in my refrigerator.  Seems like I buy lots at the beginning of the week and end up with a little of each at the end of the week, but I hate to throw perfectly good food away!  Pasta salad is one of those great things to make on a hot day, but can be filled with lots of calories and too much pasta most of the time.  I threw together this Warm Spinach Pasta Salad easily in just the time it took to boil the pasta water and cook it!  

Warm Spinach Pasta Salad

Ingredients

2 Packages (about 10 oz each) Cheese Tortellini

2 Rotisserie Chicken Breasts, shredded

2 cups Grape Tomatoes, halved

1/2 cup Peas

1/2 cup Red Onion, thinly sliced

1/3 cup Basil, thinly sliced

1 can Artichoke Hearts (14 oz), drained and quartered

4 cups Baby Spinach, washed

1 cup Fresh Asparagus, washed and sliced into 1.5 inch pieces

Reduced Fat Balsamic Vinaigrette, about 4-5 tablespoons

3/4 cup Shaved Parmesan Cheese

Salt and Pepper, to taste

Directions

Boil a large pot of water and cook pasta according to the directions on the package.  During the last minute or so of the pasta cooking, add the asparagus and peas and cook with the 

pasta for the last 2 minutes.  

While the pasta is cooking chop and prepare the other ingredients (except cheese) and put into a large bowl to wait for the pasta, peas and asparagus.  After pasta mixture is cooked till al dente and drained, add to bowl and toss with salt, pepper and dressing.  Sprinkle cheese on top.

Serve warm, at room temp or cold.  

You could alter this for any vegetables you want, this is just what I had on hand, but the combination was very flavorful, filling and healthy!  Great for lunch the next day!

One Grill Wonder

The other day I was searching around the Internet and found this hidden pocket of healthy recipes on the food network that all look great and seem like something different to throw into my repertoire. I particularly couldn't wait to try this one for Grilled Steak with Chimichurri Sauce because it was kinda like a "One Pot Wonder" only on the grill. The dry aged beef at Bristol Farms has also been calling my name for a while and thought this would be the perfect thing to test it out on because the flavors are so simple and classic.

This is the perfect Spring/Summer dinner and a perfect excuse to dust off your grill and enjoy the sunshine! I also grilled some baguettes rubbed with garlic and parsley. Enjoy!

Spring in a Jar

The weather has been so nice here in Orange County lately that I have been contemplating having a nice picnic outside for a while now. I have been envisioning a nice Sunday afternoon spent outside enjoying nature, away from Television, Computers, iPhone....just relaxing outside. Hearing the birds chirp and stuff like that.

I saw a recipe for Strawberry Layer Cake and it just seemed like the perfect inspiration for my Spring picnic. I am not an advanced picnic planner or anything, but I do know that a cake is not that portable. Stubbornness took over and I came up with the idea of making mini layered desserts with the cake in jars. Seemed like the perfect answer because there is no way Brian and I alone could eat a whole cake. I ended up with enough little jars to give to people and freeze a few for a rainy day!

Ingredients for Dessert in a Jar:

Small Wide Mouth Jars

Large Plastic Ziplock Bag or Piping Bag

Round Cookie Cutters

1 pint Strawberries, cleaned and sliced, stems removed

1. Make the cake as directed. Let cool completely. Find the appropriate size round cookie cutter to fit the bottom of the jar and cut out the cake to fit. You will only need one of this size per jar. Then find a slightly bigger size cookie cutter to fit higher up in the jar and cut out one of this size for each jar.

2. Once you have cut out all your cake pieces, place a small one in the bottom

of each of your jars.

3. Pour all your frosting into your plastic bag (or piping bag) and push it all to one corner in the bottom of the bag. Do not zip the top closed there will be too much air inside.

Twist the top of the bag gently and pipe a little frosting on top of each cake round.

4. Arrange a layer of sliced strawberries over the first layer of frosting.

Top with the second (larger) cake round.

5. Pipe another layer of frosting.

6. Top with sliced strawberries.

You are done! Aren't they cute?! Stay tuned for a Pie version!