Feta and Vegetable Rotini Salad

Feta and Vegetable Rotini Salad (slightly adapted from Kraft Recipes, Servings: 8, Total Time: 1 hour, 30 minutes)

Ingredients

·         3 cups wheat rotini pasta, cooked, cooled
·         1 cup crumbled Feta cheese
·         1 cup halved cherry tomatoes
·         1 cup chopped cucumbers
·         ½ cup Zesty Italian dressing
·         ¼ cup finely chopped red onions

Directions

1.)    Combine all ingredients.  Refrigerate 1 hour.  Stir just prior to serving.

This one was a big hit at a recent party that I hosted.  I only had one serving left over, which my husband promptly at the next day.  I have used both regular and tri-colored rotini with this recipe.  The tri-colored gives it a little more color, but I prefer the regular wheat pasta.  I omitted the black olives from the original recipe, but feel free to add them back in if you want.

The cucumbers and onions add a nice crunch to the soft, chewy pasta (I cook to al dente).  The Feta imparts a slightly salty flavor, but makes a major impact on taste – with its cheesiness filling each bite.  I like the Italian dressing with this dish, as opposed to a Greek, probably because I started eating salad with Italian dressing when I was younger.  The Zesty Italian adds a little kick of spices that a regular Italian dressing does not.  It works nicely with the Feta and the mild cucumbers.

Southwestern Pasta Salad

Southwestern Pasta Salad  (slightly adapted from AllRecipes, 8 servings, Total Time: 30 minutes)

Ingredients

·         1 (12 oz.) package rotini pasta

·         1/3 cup vegetable oil

·         ¼ cup fresh lime juice

·         2 Tbsp. chili powder, or to taste

·         2 tsp. ground cumin

·         ½ tsp. salt

·         2 cloves garlic, crushed

·         2 ears corn on the cob, cooked and kernels cut off cob

·         1 (15 oz.) can black beans, drained and rinsed

·         ½ cup diced green bell pepper

·         ½ cup diced red bell pepper

Directions

1.      Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add pasta and cook for 8 to 10 minutes or until al dente; drain.

2.      In a large bowl combine oil, lime juice, chili powder, cumin, salt and garlic. Stir in pasta and set aside to cool to room temperature, stirring occasionally.

3.      Stir in corn, beans, green pepper, and red pepper. Serve chilled or at room temperature.

I started out with ¾ of my package of rotini pasta, but after tossing everything, I found that I needed more pasta because the coating was much too thick.  I like the taste of this dish (it tastes like chili), but it does have a lot of carbs.  Good if you are carbo-loading, not so good if you’re looking for a lot of protein.  The pasta has a nice crunch to it, as do the bell peppers – that mixes nicely with the softer texture of the corn and black beans.  Overall, I like it; however, it leaves my teeth feeling coated, almost like I just drank a soda or something very sugary.  For this reason, I don’t think that I will make this dish again.