Happy First Day of Fall *plus* Mediterranean Pasta Salad
Today is the first day of Fall. There’s a lot of chatter from folks about their displeasure that Summer is over, even more chatter that it never really begun, but why not embrace Fall? Fall is cozy sweaters, scarves, soups, stews, and bundled walks with the dog. There’s not much better than that in our opinion. Yay Fall – we love you!
We also love this Mediterranean Pasta Salad recipe because not only is it gluten free and thus, food sensitivity friendly, but it also falls equally into both the I don’t want Summer to be over just yet camp, and the give me something that borderlines on comfort food camp, which is where we seem to be at this time of year. The freshness of the spinach (hello, iron!) mixed with the coziness of the rice pasta makes this salad a keeper. And, simply skip the goat feta and honey to make this salad vegan-friendly.
Makes: 4-6 servings
Cook Time: 20 min (pasta cook time included)
Salad Ingredients:
1 cup uncooked, gluten free spiral rice pasta *substitute orzo pasta if you’re not sensitive to gluten
2 large handfuls fresh spinach, washed
1/2 cup sundried tomatoes, chopped
1/2 cup black olives, sliced
1 can artichokes, drained and chopped
1/2 cup goat feta, crumbled *simply skip this to make this recipe vegan
Dressing Ingredients:
1/4 cup olive oil
1/2 tsp balsamic vinegar
1/2 tsp red wine vinegar
2 tsp dijon mustard
1/2 tsp honey *simply skip this to make this recipe vegan
1 tsp dried chili flakes
1/2 tsp lemon juice
dash of sea salt & pepper
Method:
Make pasta according to package instructions, set aside and let cool completely.
While pasta is cooling, make the dressing by simply stirring it’s ingredients together.
Once pasta is cooled add the spinach, sun dried tomatoes, olives, and artichokes.
Add half of the dressing and toss, then add feta and toss again. Add all or part of the remaining dressing to your taste.
One final toss and this salad is ready to be devoured.
~~~