Antipasti Pasta Salad

My mom buys marinated artichoke hearts and sun-dried tomatoes in huge jars, so every time I visit her I make a big bowl of this tangy pasta salad using generous scoops of each. It's so good! This recipe makes a huge bowl of salad, perfect for a potluck, or just eating for lunch all week long.

Antipasti Pasta Salad

1 lb rotini (or your favorite curly pasta)
2 cups broccoli florets
2 medium carrots, cut into matchsticks
2 cups marinated artichoke hearts, halved or quartered
1 cup sundried tomato strips, packed in oil
1/2 cup sliced black olives
1/2 cup balsamic vinegar (white or red), OR 1/2 cup rice vinegar
1/4-1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp dried thyme
salt and freshly-ground black pepper to taste

Cook noodles according to directions, using the minimum cooking time listed (your pasta will absorb dressing and soften over time, so you want it to be al dente!). Add your broccoli and carrots in with the noodles for the last 2 minutes of cooking to blanch them (this will save you an extra cooking pot). Drain pasta and veggies in a colander and immediately run cold water over them until they are completely cooled, to prevent overcooking. Leave the colander to drain while you prepare the dressing in a large mixing bowl. Add all remaining ingredients and stir, then add the drained, cold pasta/veggies and mix well. Store in a sealed container in the fridge at least an hour before serving. It will keep for about a week, and the flavor gets even better after a day or two.

Black-Eyed Pea Salad

I needed something vegetarian to bring to today's 4th of July BBQ, and mom suggested a cold salad made with black-eyed peas. There are a lot of recipes for it online using fresh veggies, canned peas and a vinaigrette-type dressing, but I like my peas home-cooked. They've got a better texture that way, but you could use frozen ones too, with similar results.

Black-Eyed Pea Salad

2 cups dry black-eyed peas
2 medium roasted peppers, chopped
2 green onions, sliced
1 cup grated carrot

Dressing:

1/3 cup olive oil
1/4 cup white balsamic vinegar (red is fine, white just tastes cleaner and brighter)
2 T spicy brown mustard
1 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp parsley (or 1 T. fresh)
freshly-ground black pepper

Soak the peas for 4 hours, then rinse, cover with fresh water in a pot, add 2 tsp salt, bring to a boil and simmer for 30-40 minutes until tender. Rinse cooked beans with cold water and drain while you prep the veggies and dressing. (My dad grilled a red and an orange bell pepper for me on his grill, which turned out awesome! But you can use jarred peppers too, if you aren't so lucky.) Mix peas and vegetables together in a large bowl, taking care not to mash the beans up too much. Whisk dressing ingredients in a small bowl, then toss with the pea mixture till well-mixed. Cover and let sit in the fridge at least an hour before serving.

Totally Taco Salad

I hate to put up another salad recipe and perpetuate the myth that vegetarians only ever eat salads, but it was really tasty, used up some of my leftover rice, and my kid ate a big bowl of the stuff. That's gotta be a sign!

Totally Taco Salad

1 can pinto beans, rinsed and drained
1/2 cup cooked rice, chilled
1/4 cup salsa
1 T. nutritional yeast (optional)
1 large romaine heart, washed and shredded
1 green onion, thinly sliced
12 tortilla chips, crushed


Cheater Sauce:
2 T. vegan mayonnaise
4 T. taco sauce
dash of garlic powder, onion powder and cumin to taste

Toss the rice, beans, salsa, yeast and sauce together till thoroughly mixed. Stir in lettuce, onion, and crushed chips just before serving. Should feed two adults as a main dish.

Ethan's Ribbon Salad

My son has always been pretty picky about what foods he will eat, but I've been wearing him down over the last year or so, trying to get him to try new things by preparing them in different ways. I made a simple salad using my peanut dressing and was happy to find that he would tolerate eating more than just a bite, so I've added it to my regular recipe rotation. The trick is, I think, in shredding the lettuce. It turns it into little green ribbons that have a fun texture and coat well using very little dressing.

Ethan's Ribbon Salad

1 head romaine lettuce (or two romaine hearts)
2 green onions, sliced thin
1/4 c. sliced almonds
2 tsp. flax seeds
1-2 T. Tangy Peanut Dressing (to taste)

Wash the romaine and shake off as much excess water as you can. Blot leaves dry with a clean towel and stack on a cutting board, holding the leaves together in a tight bundle, and slice thinly across. (I like my threads to be about as wide as a linguine noodle, maybe a little smaller... I just eyeball it!) Toss in a medium-large bowl with the green onion. You can refrigerate the salad here, or let it sit for a while to let the onion flavor to come out a bit. When you are ready to serve the salad, top with almonds, flax seeds, and dressing and toss till coated. I use the minimum amount of dressing on this salad, as it's pretty potent and I don't like the other flavors in the salad to be overwhelmed.

You can also add shredded carrot, thinly sliced celery, or peeled and seeded cucumber chunks to your salad and it will be fabulous.