Tortellini Salad

We had this at Emma's birthday party and it was a hit-at least among the people that eat salads or pasta with more than one ingredient ;)

It's great to make ahead and tonight, I didn't have all of the ingredients so I improvised a bit and it was still delish.

6T olive oil
1/2 c chopped fresh basil
3 T fresh lemon juice
1 shallot, minced (I used some minced red onion this time around since I didn't have a shallot)
1 garlic clove, minced
salt and pepper
1 lb asparagus trimmed and sliced into 1/2 inch pieces (I had to leave these out this time since I didn't have any :( )
2 9oz pkgs of fresh cheese tortellini (you could probably use dried ?)
1/4 c toasted pine nuts
1 pint cherry tomatoes, halved (I added extra this time since I didn't have asparagus)
1/2 c grated parmesan cheese

1. whisk oil, basil, lemon juice, shallot, garlic, salt and pepper together in the bowl you will make the salad in

2. cook asparagus in boiling, salted water unti ltender (3 min). Transfer to a colander using a slotted spoon (don't dump cooking water) and run under cold water until cooled off. toss with dressing.

3. return water to boil, add tortellini and cook until tender. drain thoroughly and toss while hot with the asparagus and dressing. refrigerate until chilled.

**** if you're making it ahead of time, stop here****

4. just before serving, add pine nuts, tomatoes and parm. (if you made the salad the day before, you might want to freshen it with a bit more oil and lemon juice before serving)

Southwestern Pasta Salad

So this recipe is a takeoff from Jamie's Southwestern Salad recipe. I didn't have enough fresh ingredients to do a salad justice, and Grandma doesn't really do well with lettuce so I turned it into a pasta salad. I think it's delicious!

1lb pasta
1/2 c frozen corn (fresh would be better)
1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
Some cubed cheddar cheese
Cooked Chicken cut into pieces
1 c or so fresh salsa (jarred would probably be okay too)
Ranch dressing

Make pasta. In the last minute or so of cooking, add in frozen corn
In large bowl, mix together some salsa and ranch dressing until desired flavor and consistency. Add in beans & chicken.
Drain pasta/corn and add to dressing mixture.
When it's all mixed up and cooled a little bit, add in cheese chunks and stir those in.
Mix up and enjoy room temp or cold.

Note: fresh vegis are always better so you could add cucumber, fresh tomatoes, fresh corn, fresh bell pepper, cilantro, etc and this would only get better!

Southwestern salad

Seems like there are a few recipes with these ing already, but here is a new twist

Lettuce- we use spinach
1 can corn
1 can black beans
few chopped tomatoes
shredded cheese
tortilla chips
low fat ranch
salsa

Add the first 5 ing to the bowl. Mix the low fat ranch and salsa. Smash tortilla chips up as a garnish.