Tag: sun-dried tomatoes

Sun-Dried Tomato Pasta Salad

I have a fantastic pasta salad recipe for you today –

But, before I get to that, I have a question for you – especially those of you that print out my recipes and use them at home.  I’ve been including the recipe directly on the blog and adding a print option to the post.  In the past, I’d used AllRecipes.com and posted the recipes there.

I’m considering going back to that method for a couple of reasons and I wanted to know if you had any strong opinions one way or the other… Here are the reasons I’m considering switching back to that method:

  • consistent format
  • easy access
  • super-easy printing
  • you can save the recipes into your own recipe book and have a compilation of your favorite recipes

So, today’s recipe is linked below to the recipe on AllRecipes.com. If you wouldn’t mind, click over and see what you think.  I think I’ll be slowly migrating my recipes over to this site and re-linking them on the Recipes page of this blog so that you can easily access & print them from one place.

I’d love to hear your input, though, so please let me know what you think!

Okay, enough of the business –

Here’s the recipe for you today – a really yummy pasta salad.  I think I’ve mentioned to you before that I absolutely LOVE sun-dried tomatoes.  I love the saltiness, the chew, the just general yumminess of them.  I could eat them like candy, I think.

So, when I was craving pasta salad the other day, I thought about trying to find a way to incorporate some sun-dried tomatoes into the mixture. I wanted something a little different than the usual chicken pasta salad I make, something a little more Mediterranean in flavor.

I have a basil plant on the back porch that my momma gave me and I’ve been searching all summer for some great recipes to make use of the basil. (By the way, anyone want to teach me to make pesto?)

So, I mixed and tasted, chopped and stirred.  And this was the result.  SuperMan absolutely loved it (as did I) and said it was even better the next day or two for lunch at work. I was really glad I was able to give him a tasty (and filling) yet cool salad to eat on the hot, dog-days of summer.

Give it a try – especially if you have some leftover grilled chicken like we did – adding the chicken makes it a hearty meal.

Click on the title to go to the link on AllRecipes.com.

Sun-Dried Tomato Pasta Salad

Ingredients
  • 1/2 lb wagon wheel pasta (cooked)
  • 1/2 cup chopped fresh basil leaves
  • 1/2 cup chopped oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes (reserve oil)
  • 1/4 cup olive oil (or use reserved oil from tomatoes)
  • 1 cup grated Parmesan (or use Parmesan/asiago blend)
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1/2 tsp pepper
  • 1/2 tsp garlic powder
  • 1 tbsp Italian seasoning
Directions
  1. Boil pasta in salted water.
  2. Drain & set aside.
  3. Place basil & tomatoes in food processor. Pulse 4-5 times until blended.
  4. In a large bowl, toss the pasta, tomato/basil mixture, adding the cheese, salt, pepper, garlic & oil.
  5. Toss to coat.
  6. Serve warm or chilled. It tastes great both ways.
Footnotes
  • OPTIONAL: Add 1-2 grilled chicken breasts, chopped, to make this salad a meal. You can also rough-chop the basil & tomatoes if you’d rather have larger pieces in the salad.