If you are visiting me from one of my other websites…you may be shaking your head thinking I have lost my mind. Some days I wonder if I really am a bit insane.
I cook almost every single day. Having a husband and two growing boys means that I cook a whole lot. I figure if I have to cook, I might as well share the love. The goal of this site is to encourage you to love your kitchen – thus the name I Heart Kitchen. Well, that and it kinda works with the theme of my other three sites 😉
Today I wanted to share one of my favorite summer dishes – Tomato Basil Pasta Salad. This is a super easy pasta salad and it gets better the longer it sits in the refrigerator. I have been making this salad for almost 20 years. This is the dish that I would always bring to potlucks, baby showers and family gatherings. I think at one point it was just called “Michelle’s Pasta”.
When my husband and I were first married, I would whip this dish up and eat it for lunch over the week. My husband would never touch it. He’d look at it – ask where the meat was, snub his nose at it and then pop the lid back on. One day I guess he found himself in a situation where it was eat the pasta salad or cook something for himself. Guess what – he LOVED the pasta salad.
Every once in a while, he’ll get a little smirk on his face and ask me to whip up some of “HIS” pasta salad. What a nut…
- 12 oz bag Frozen Tortellini, prepared according to directions
- 1 pound tomatoes, chopped
- ¼ cup olive oil
- 4 tablespoons Balsamic Vinaigrette
- ½ cup basil, chopped
- 5 cloves of garlic, minced
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon pepper
- ½ cup feta cheese, crumbled
- Combine all ingredients in a large bowl and mix well.
- Adjust seasoning as needed.
- Refrigerate before serving.
The great thing about this recipe is that once you have all of your ingredients together you just toss everything in a big bowl and mix.
Don’t be afraid of the garlic. I know some of you are thinking – did she really just put 5 huge cloves of garlic in that dish. The garlic makes this salad fabulous. If you are afraid of the quantity of garlic you can adjust if you’d like. Â That’s what I love about salads, you can really modify to your preference.
Like many pasta salads, this one gets better the longer you let it sit in the refrigerator. Enjoy!