Name: Tortellini Pasta Salad
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 8 min
Yield: 4 main dish serves or 8-10 side dish servings
Ingredients: 2 tablespoons red wine, white wine, or sherry vinegar; 1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons olive oil; 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano; 1/2 teaspoon salt; 1/4 tablespoon ground black pepper; 9-10 ounces refrigerated cheese tortellini, cooked according to package directions (one regular sized package or 1/2 of a large package); 1/2 cup julienned or diced salami; 1/2 cup julienned or diced pepperoni; 2 canned artichoke hearts, drained and chopped; 1/4 cup kalamata olives, diced; 1/4 cup sun-dried tomatoes, julienned or diced; 4 ounces mozzarella pearls, diced bocconcini, or diced fresh mozzarella; 1/4 cup julienned fresh basil; salt and pepper, to taste

Tortellini Pasta Salad

June 15, 2018

What’s better than cheesy tortellini with fresh antipasto ingredients? These tortellini pasta salad has all of those components in one bowl. It’s perfect as a main dish or as a side to serve at your next picnic or cookout!

Pasta salad used to be one of those foods that I just did not like. I honestly don’t know what it was about them, unless it was the fact that to me, pasta was something that should be served hot. Also, my mom really never made pasta salad so most of my experience with pasta salad was creamy pasta salads on salad bars that had so much mayo that you could not distinguish their individual ingredients.

As an adult, I’ve discovered a love for pasta salads, though. It could be the fact that they are ridiculously easy to make. It could also be the fact that they are ridiculously easy to serve. I mean, what’s not to love about a cold salad that you just grab from the fridge and dish from the bowl?

Make It How You Want It

The other clear advantage to pasta salads is their adaptability. The pasta salads of my youth were mostly “macaroni salads” (including my grandmother’s macaroni salad, which I honestly do not remember her making but it is delicious). However, pasta salads are definitely NOT limited to macaroni, nor are they limited to only creamy dressings.

My personal favorite pasta salad is the BLT pasta salad that I make that was inspired by a menu item at Southern Star. A friend of mine makes a fantastic bacon ranch pasta salad. And then there is this tortellini pasta salad…

Inspired By Antipasto Ingredients

A few years back I discovered a chopped salad on Smitten Kitchen that was inspired by the ingredients of an Italian sub, one of Philip’s very favorite sandwiches. The salad was hearty and did not disappoint. Every time I buy the ingredients I will eat the salad for at least a week.

I wanted to make something along the lines of that salad but with pasta instead. A tortellini pasta salad seemed to fit the bill because I❤tortellini. I mean, cheesy stuffed pasta, right?

This antipasto tortellini pasta salad is infinitely adaptable. I’m not Italian, but as I was researching antipasto ingredients it certainly seemed like there were few rules. You can use what you have on hand and it is definitely going to be delicious.

I used salami, pepperoni, mini bocconcini (mozzarella balls), sun-dried tomatoes, kalamata olives, artichoke hearts, a sprinkle of basil, and a tart vinaigrette. Roasted red peppers, chickpeas, prosciutto, marinated mushrooms…there are lots of delicious things you could toss in there. Just let it chill in the fridge for a bit and you have a perfect tortellini pasta salad!

Shared on Meal Plan Monday on Southern Plate!

Mary

Yield: 4 main dish serves or 8-10 side dish servings

Tortellini Pasta Salad

15 minPrep Time:

8 minCook Time:

23 minTotal Time:

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Ingredients

For the dressing

2 tablespoons red wine, white wine, or sherry vinegar
1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 tablespoon ground black pepper

For the pasta salad

9-10 ounces refrigerated cheese tortellini, cooked according to package directions (one regular sized package or 1/2 of a large package)
1/2 cup julienned or diced salami
1/2 cup julienned or diced pepperoni
2 canned artichoke hearts, drained and chopped
1/4 cup kalamata olives, diced
1/4 cup sun-dried tomatoes, julienned or diced
4 ounces mozzarella pearls, diced bocconcini, or diced fresh mozzarella
1/4 cup julienned fresh basil
salt and pepper, to taste

Instructions

Whisk the vinaigrette ingredients together in a small bowl or shake together in a small jar.
Rinse the cooked tortellini with cold water and allow it to stand until cooled, shaking the colander occasionally to drain the water away.
Combine the cooked tortellini in a large bowl with the remaining ingredients. Pour the vinaigrette over and toss to combine. Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve. The salad will keep covered in the refrigerator for 4-5 days.

https://chattavore.com/tortellini-pasta-salad/

Cobb Salad Meal Prep

March 31, 2017

This Cobb salad meal prep tutorial will help you prep ingredients for a week’s worth of delicious salads in an hour or less, including homemade dressing!

What’s your lunch situation? Mine is pretty abysmal, I have to admit. And that’s really sad, because you guys, I’m a food blogger. Everything I eat is supposed to be delicious, gourmet, and totally Instagrammable, right? This is not the case.

What’s funny is that when I was a teacher, I used to think that people who worked outside of schools pretty much had it made. I mean, I always ate lunch with my kids (not required, but preschool teachers know this is best practice) so lunch usually meant scarfing whatever I was eating while simultaneously opening yogurt pouches and milk cartons, refereeing arguments, and making sure everyone stayed in their seat. Oh, wait, don’t forget the time I was told I was a terrible human being for not sharing my cheese dip with a kid from another class because he “liked cheese dip too” and “adults are supposed to share their food with kids”. Never mind that he had a full lunch in front of him and I had two tablespoons of cheese dip. Anyway…

Fast forward to today. There are many great things about my job, but the lunch arrangement is not one of them. I never thought that eating at a table would feel like a treat. Seriously. There are weeks that it doesn’t happen at all. I frequently eat in my car…it’s been a while since I’ve had to eat while driving, but there was definitely a period of time when everything had to be able to be consumed with one hand and no utensils. I have an office, but it is very rare that I’m there at lunch time (or at all). I’ve started forcing myself to frequently pack a lunch that requires utensils so I am forced to at least eat my lunch while not driving. Microwave access is definitely an issue, so it’s either got to be cold or able to go into a Thermos unless I know that I’ll be able to use a microwave, which is rare.

Plus, I’m terrible at packing my lunch. I do best when I plan ahead (big surprise there). I am not a person who can eat a PB&J every single day, but if I plan something really good I can eat it for a week without feeling like I’m gonna lose my mind. Turkey & cheese croissants, soup in a Thermos, and a really good salad are some of my faves. I’ve decided to really make an effort to spend the time prepping everything on Sundays so I don’t have to stress over it on weeknights.

One thing…I don’t really like the whole “put everything in the containers on Sunday night and just grab them as you need them” idea, at least not for salads. There’s too much danger of things getting soggy or rotty and I’m not down with that. So, I prep everything ahead like a little mini salad bar and then assemble the salad the night before so I can pick out any unsavory bits.

This Cobb salad is super simple. It took me about an hour from start to finish, including making the dressing, roasting the chickpeas, boiling the eggs, and chopping the lettuce, cheese, and cucumbers. Cobb salad usually has chicken, but I really, really dislike chicken that’s been sitting in the fridge, so I subbed in the crispy roasted chickpeas. Also, Cobb salad is traditionally served with a vinaigrette, but I made my own ranch using the recipe from the BTC Old-Fashioned Grocery cookbook (affiliate link)(and here’s my own ranch dressing recipe). Everything gets its own container and I assemble it in my Systema salad container the night before. This salad will get me through the week, and I’ll start over again next Sunday!

Shared on Weekend Potluck on The Country Cook!

Recommended for this recipe:

Mary

Yield: 5 salads

Cobb Salad Meal Prep

30 minPrep Time:

30 minTotal Time:

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Ingredients

2-3 hearts of romaine
1 cucumber, seeded and diced
1 package grape tomatoes
2 avocados
5 ounces cheddar cheese, cubed, or crumbled blue cheese
5 strips bacon, cooked
5 eggs, boiled
your choice of dressing
your choice of crunchy toppings - I used roasted chickpeas, sesame sticks, and roasted, salted pistachios

Instructions

Chop the romaine into bite-sized pieces. Place in a salad spinner and fill with water then drain and spin, or place in a colander and rinse thoroughly then shake the colander. Spread the lettuce down the center of a strip of 4 or 5 paper towels then roll the lettuce up. Place the lettuce in a gallon-sized zipper bag and refrigerate.
Store the cucumbers in a covered bowl. Store the cheese in a sandwich bag or a covered bowl. Store the bacon in whole strips in a sandwich bag and the eggs in an egg carton, unpeeled.
To assemble the salad, place a few handfuls of lettuce (about 1 1/2 to 2 cups), a couple of spoonfuls of cucumber, 3 or 4 tomatoes, 1/4 avocado (I leave it in the peel then just scoop it out before I eat), and a diced egg in a covered bowl. In a separate container (or a separate section of a salad container), place a piece of bacon, chopped, an ounce (about 1/4 cup) of cheese, your choice of crunchy toppings, and a small container of dressing. Refrigerate until ready to serve or carry in a bag with ice packs.

Notes

You can add chopped chicken, turkey, or ham to this salad if you would like.

https://chattavore.com/cobb-salad-meal-prep/

This post contains affiliate links. This means that if you click through and make a purchase, I will receive a small commission. This does not affect the cost to you. For more information, please see my disclosures. Thank you for supporting my blog!

Quick and Easy Shrimp Rolls

October 14, 2016

If you’ve ever been intimidated by the idea of cooking seafood, try these quick and easy shrimp rolls – you might just change your mind!

I don’t cook a lot of fish or seafood on here, and it really is a shame. Fish definitely has lots of roots in the South, and shrimp is not the least of these. Shrimp is definitely my favorite seafood to eat and to cook, so finding ways to feature it here is always fun for me.

I know that a lot of people don’t care for seafood, and to each his or her own. I don’t care too much for raw onions (as you guys well know), and I don’t want them forced on me for sure. However, I know that a lot of people don’t cook seafood even though they enjoy eating it because they find it intimidating to cook.

Honestly, I’m not sure what’s intimidating about cooking seafood, unless it’s the fact that it can be easy to over cook and that when it sticks, well, it can fall apart. All you need to know to avoid those mishaps is a few simple tricks, and if your fish falls apart, well, who really cares? You can eat it anyway, and it will still taste good.

You don’t have to worry about the shrimp in these shrimp rolls, though. It’s not going to fall apart, and as long as you’re paying attention, you aren’t going to overcook it. I don’t think that shrimp rolls are really a traditional Southern food, but shrimp is definitely traditional and any salad made with meat and mayonnaise is pretty darn Southern.

I’ve always wanted to try a Maine lobster roll, which is funny because I never cared for lobster. Actually, I don’t know that I’ve ever eaten lobster. My parents used to cook lobster at home all the time and I think I was very freaked out by the claws. One of these days, though, I will consume an authentic Maine lobster roll (we plan to visit some friends in Maine one of these days – I promise we will, guys!).

Anyway, the concept of these shrimp rolls is based on a lobster roll – lightly dressed seafood salad piled on a buttered hot dog bun along with some lettuce. In the name of recipe testing, we ate these shrimp rolls twice in a two-week period, and that was a good thing. The shrimp rolls come together with about 20 minutes of active prep and cook time and they’re a great, light, easy weeknight dinner.

These quick and easy shrimp rolls will convince you that seafood is not scary to cook – so if you aren’t convinced, try these out!

Shared on Meal Plan Monday on Southern Bite.

Mary

Yield: 4 rolls

Quick and Easy Shrimp Rolls

15 minPrep Time:

5 minCook Time:

20 minTotal Time:

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Ingredients

1 pound uncooked shrimp, peeled and deveined
1 teaspoon salt
1 small shallot, finely minced
1 celery stalk, finely minced
1/4 cup mayonnaise
juice of 1 lemon
1/4 teaspoon Old Bay seasoning
salt and pepper, to taste
4 hot dog buns (I like Martin's Potato long rolls)
2 tablespoons butter melted
4 lettuce leaves, washed (I used romaine leaves because that's what I had, but butter lettuce would be more traditional here)

Instructions

Fill a 4-quart pot with water and bring to a boil. Add the salt and the shrimp. Cook for 2 minutes, until the shrimp is cooked through. Drain the shrimp and chop it into 1-inch pieces. Refrigerate until cool.
Combine the shrimp with the shallots, celery, mayonnaise, lemon juice, and Old Bay. Add salt and pepper to taste. Refrigerate until ready to use.
Preheat the broiler and set an oven rack 8 inches from the broiler. Open the hot dog buns and brush the buns with butter. Broil until very lightly browned.
Place a lettuce leaf inside each hot dog bun. Divide the shrimp mixture among the buns. Serve immediately.

Notes

Prep/cook time does not include time to chill the shrimp after cooking. This took about 20 minutes for me.

https://chattavore.com/quick-easy-shrimp-rolls/

If you've ever been intimidated by the idea of cooking seafood, try these quick and easy shrimp rolls - you might just change your mind! | recipe from Chattavore.com

Sesame Chicken Salad with Almonds

August 12, 2016

Sesame chicken salad has a sweet, creamy honey-sesame dressing, crunchy almonds, and sweet Mandarin oranges. It’s a delicious way to do chicken salad!

Last year I went through a Mason Jar salad kick here on Chattavore. One of my favorites was (and still is) the Asian chicken salad. It was a nod to one of my favorite menu items at Applebee’s, the Oriental chicken wrap. They don’t have that on the menu anymore, but they do still have the Oriental chicken salad, which has all the same flavors.

Anyway, that dressing…that dressing is just so good. I started thinking about how delicious it would be to make chicken salad with it. Not eat it with a fork chicken salad with lettuce, but chicken salad you could eat on crackers or bread or in a wrap (lettuce or tortilla). My ideal sesame chicken salad would be sweet and crunchy, with small chunks of chicken. Shredded chicken would be good too, but the first time I made this, I shredded my chicken by pulsing it in the food processor very briefly and it was a little too fine.

I used my dry-brined chicken thighs, because they are basically my go-to for any recipe that needs precooked chicken. The dressing comes together quickly and a then few runs with a sharp knife through some almonds, green onions, and drained Mandarin oranges is all it takes. I used smoked almonds because that’s what I had and I thought they’d work perfectly. I was right.

This sesame chicken salad took me less than ten minutes to make (besides cooking the chicken). I divided it up into Easy Lunchboxes (<–affiliate link) with fruit and crackers and stacked them in the fridge and Philip and I had lunch for several days. It was absolutely delicious and a nice way to start off the school year – no sad lunches here!

This sesame chicken salad with almonds and Mandarin oranges is great for lunch or an easy dinner!

This post contains affiliate links. This means that if you click the link and make a purchase, I will receive a small commission. This does not affect the cost to you. For more information, please see my disclosures. Thank you for supporting my blog!

Shared on the Meal Plan Monday Link-up on Southern Plate and the Weekend Potluck link-up on The Country Cook.

Mary

Yield: 4-6 servings

Sesame Chicken Salad with Almonds

10 minPrep Time:

10 minTotal Time:

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Ingredients

1 pound chicken thighs or breasts, cooked and cubed or shredded (I use this recipe )
1 recipe creamy honey-sesame dressing (see below)
1/2 cup toasted almonds, chopped (I used smoked almonds)
1/2 cup Mandarin oranges, well drained and chopped
2 green onions, thinly sliced

For the Dressing

3 tablespoons honey
2 teaspoons rice vinegar
1/4 cup mayonnaise
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1 teaspoon sesame oil

Instructions

Whisk all of the dressing ingredients together in a large bowl. Add the remaining ingredients to the dressing. Toss to combine and coat all ingredients with the dressing. Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve.

Notes

Prep/Cook time does not include time to cook the chicken.

https://chattavore.com/sesame-chicken-salad-almonds/