Green Tortellini Salad

Sorry for the delay in posts, ya'll. This past week was more hectic than normal, and I just didn't have a chance to sit down at my computer to do some writing until now! I hope you are all enjoying your weekend - we've had a beautiful one here in the High Country!

Before I share this recipe, I have to sneak in a few pictures of my adorable niece and sister from while they were hear over Memorial Day Weekend. We had a little photo shoot...

So cute! Ah! Ahem, back to the pasta. Today, I share with you a recipe for green tortellini salad. Pasta salad is one of my favorites, especially in the summer time. You know those hot days when the last thing you want to do is slave over a hot oven or stove for hours? This is the perfect dish for one of those days - the only thing that requires heat is boiling water for the pasta. Then, you can enjoy pasta salad cold from the fridge for days on end without having to add any extra heat to your already hot house.

Now keep in mind, this recipe is very versatile. You could use any kind of beans, and add or substitute any other vegetables to create your own custom version. The basics are simple, and they're all you need to create a delicious salad.

For my additions, I used kidney beans, sun dried tomatoes, olives, green beans, cucumber, artichoke hearts, and celery. Bite size pieces of each!

Once the pasta was cooked (I used tortellini and a cup of shells to add some extra bulk), I tossed it in a big bowl with all the additions and started working on the dressing. First, pesto.

Then, olive oil, a dash of vinegar, salt and pepper to taste. Oh, and a little parmesan cheese was added to the mix too.

Served up as a main dish on this particular evening.

Simple, quick, refreshingly summery.

Green Tortellini Salad Recipe:

Makes a LOT of pasta salad.

- One package of refrigerated tortellini (usually found near the dairy section of your grocery store), I used spinach

- 1 cup Pasta, any shape will do.

- 1 can beans, rinsed and drained

- 2-3 sun dried tomatoes

- 1 small can sliced olives

- 4-5 artichoke hearts

- 2 cups fresh green beans

- 2 stalks celery

- 1 cucumber

- 3 tbsp pesto (home made or prepared)

- 3 tbsp olive oil

- 2 tsp white vinegar

- Salt/pepper to taste

- 1/2 cup parmesan cheese

Directions:

- Cook both the tortellini and pasta based on package directions. Drain and let cool.

- Wash, trim, and chop the additions into bite sized pieces.

- Toss additions and pasta in a large mixing bowl.

- Add pesto, olive oil, vinegar, salt/pepper, and parmesan cheese.

- Mix everything together, and serve room temperature or cold.

House Projects Round #2

Since we put in the wood floors, we've been itching to get some more things done around the house. We have a long list to tackle, but here are some of the things that have been done lately (P.S., I am really bad about remembering to take "before" pictures, so for those of you who have not seen our house in person, just imagine that these things we've been working on looked much a little worse than the pictures posted here):

Cedar exterior framing, new door knobs, wooden screen doors:

We wanted to give the exterior of the house a little makeover, so we decided to stain some cedar a gray (barnwood color) shade to frame the windows. While we were at it  we also decided to put up wooden framed screen doors and new door knobs. I am still planning on painting both the front and side door one of these colors.

Here's the progess picture.

The windows on the outside of the house got the same cedar framing treatment.

Jacob at work on the front door.

Landscaping:

In progress picture, post weeding, trimming, and mulching.

Close up of the cleaned up rock walkway. I love this walkway - the rocks have moss growing on them, it's great.

Interior:

On the interior, we hung some really cool wall art. This stained glass beauty was given to us as a wedding present. I love how it warms the living room and gives such character!

The red window. We found this guy at the Re-Store in Boone for $10. Can't beat it! Looks like it was a side window to a front door at one point. We did nothing to this except hang it up!

Love ikea frames. Love wedding pictures.

This one is an ikea print that I framed and put above the toilet in the master bath. I think it gives the toilet area some class, don't you think?

And finally, my favorite little spot in the living room. It's been fun discovering all the wildflowers plant varieties in our yard. We moved into the house in September of last year, so this is our first spring here! 

Coming soon - painting the exterior doors, more on the landscaping, and (hopefully) a newly stained kitchen table! 

Sesame Tempeh Asian Fusion Salad

Good Morning! Spring is finally showing it's first signs here at 4100 ft. We've got all kinds of wild flowers popping up in the yard. Including these beautiful trilliums. I couldn't resist sharing.

In other news, it's the start of salad season! As previously mentioned in my recent pasta post, Jacob's parents brought us some garden grown greens when they visited Boone recently. These greens included two types of lettuce, kale, swiss chard, and mustard greens. The lettuce will be the featured green in this post, if you didn't already guess.

But first, tempeh.

And marinade for said tempeh. I love sesame oil and soy sauce combinations on so many different things - this tempeh was no exception. The marinade consisted of soy sauce, toasted sesame oil, sesame seeds, red pepper flakes, garlic, and honey.

Mix the marinade with the tempeh cubes, and toss. I let the tempeh marinate for about an hour before I roasted it, but it would have just as much flavor with 15-20 minutes of marinating. 

Line a small baking dish with parchment and put the tempeh and any remaining marinade with it.  Pictured next to the tempeh are some cabbage and mushrooms prepped and ready to be roasted along side the tempeh.  

I have a confession to make: I really like dole mandarin oranges. Especially on asian salads.

Next up - prep the dressing. The dressing used a lot of the same ingredients as the marinade - in fact, if you wanted to you could probably double the marinade as dressing, but I did make a few changes to this batch of dressing. The dresses also has canola oil in it to balance out the sesame oil and soy sauce. I also added some ginger and orange juice for some sweetness and kick. 

Next up - assembly! My salad started out with fresh washed, trimmed, and chopped lettuce. Then, I layered tempeh, carrots, mandarin oranges, sprouts, roasted cabbage/mushrooms, and some rice noodles that I had leftover from another meal. Topped it all off with asian fusion dressing and crunchy chow mein noodles.

The perfect spring meal. Easy, cheap, and quick. The best part - only a few small dishes to wash after dinner!

Sesame Tempeh Marinade and Roasting Directions:

- 1 package tempeh (we like the three grain variety, but any kind will do. Found in the produce section of the grocery store)

- 2 tbsp sesame oil

- 2 tbsp soy sauce

- 1 tsp minced garlic (1 large clove)

- 1 tsp sesame seeds

- 1 tsp honey

- 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes

Directions:

- Cut the tempeh into cubes around 3/4 inch.

- Mix together remaining ingredients.

- Pour marinade over tempeh.

- Let rest for as little as 15 min or up to 1 hour.

- Line a baking dish with parchment paper.

- Heat oven to 400 degrees.

- Pour tempeh and marinade into baking dish.

- Bake for 25 minutes or until golden and crispy.

- Serve on top of your asian salad!

Asian Fusion Dressing Recipe:

- 2 tbsp sesame oil

- 2 tbsp soy sauce

- 1/2 orange, juiced

- 1/4 cup canola oil

- 1 tsp sesame seeds

- 1 tsp minced ginger

- 1 tsp (or 1 large clove) minced garlic

Directions:

- Mix all ingredients except the canola oil in a bowl.

- Whisk the canola into the other wet ingredients, stirring vigorously to incorporate.

- Serve over top salads.

Other asian fusion salad topping suggestions:

- Mandarin oranges

- Chow mein noodles

- Roasted veggies (cabbage is great!)

- Cooked rice noodles

- Carrots

- Cucumber

- Sprouts