Chill Out

If you're like me, you don't crave heavy pasta in the summer. But this Greek Pasta Salad is served cold, and loaded with lots of summer seasonal veggies, making it light and refreshing! I got this recipe from Women's Day magazine.

You will need:

5 oz (2.5 cups) dried conchiglie pasta (which are basically just shells)
1 pint grape tomatoes, halved lengthwise
1/2 cucumber, quartered lengthwise and cut into 1/4 inch pieces
1 yellow bell pepper cut into 1/4 inch pieces
1 cup canned cannelini beans (which are just white kidney beans...and I just used the whole can)
1/2 small rid or white onion, diced
2 ounces reduced fat feta cheese
1/4 cup pitted kalamata olives, halved
1/4 cup chopped fresh mint (I didn't have any on hand so I eliminated it)
2 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
2 Tbsp. red wine vinegar
2 Tbsp. lemon juice
1 tsp. minced garlic
1 tsp. honey
1/2 tsp. Dijon mustard (again, I didn't have any so I eliminated this too)
1/4 tsp. dried oregano
1/4 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. freshly ground black pepper


Seems like a lot of ingredients, but I already had most of it on hand.

Step 1:
Cook pasta according to package directions. Drain, rinse under cold water, drain again and transfer to paper towels to absorb excess water.

Step 2:
Combine tomatoes, cucumber, bell pepper, beans, onion, feta, olives and mint in a large serving bowl. Add pasta and mix.


Step 3:
In a small bowl, whisk together oil, vinegar, lemon juice, garlic, honey, mustard, oregano, salt and black pepper.


Step 4:
Pour over the pasta and vegetables; toss well. Season with additional salt and black pepper to taste.

Step 5:
Enjoy!