Artichoke Pasta Salad

A delicious pasta salad goes great with almost any meal.  For me, they shine most next to a grilled burger on a warm summer evening.  This recipe has loads of flavor but you can easily add more ingredients to hit the spot just right.  Rage on.

Dressing

1. 2 T and 1 tsp. Sugar
2. 1/2 tsp. Granulated Garlic
3. 1/2 tsp. Italian Seasoning
4. 1 T Fresh Parsley, rough chop
5. 1 T Red Wine Vinegar
6. 1 T Water
7. 1/2 tsp. Salt and Pepper
8. 4 T Olive Oil

Whisk all ingredients together except the olive oil.  Slowly add the olive oil while whisking to blend.

Ingredients

1. 1/2 of a 12oz. package of Tri-color Rotini Pasta
2. 14oz. can of Artichoke Hearts(quartered or whole)
3. 1/2 Red Pepper

Quick Directions

1. Cook the pasta to al dente, cool.
2. Dice half of a red pepper.
3. Rinse the artichoke hearts well, then rough chop.
4. Whisk Dressing together.
5. Toss all ingredients together except for the dressing.
6. Add dressing and mix well.  Make sure to mix before serving as the dressing will settle at the bottom.
7. Enjoy!

Start by cooking the pasta.  Get a pot of water boiling, add a couple of pinches of salt to that water.  Toss the pasta in and cook for about 8-9 minutes.  Pull one out and taste it, if its still got a small amount of crunch and isn’t complete mush then we are ready to rock.  Drain the water and rinse in cool water or put it into the refrigerator to cool it down.

While the pasta is cooling down, go ahead and get the pepper and artichoke hearts washed.  Especially rinse the artichokes well to get that briny can taste washed out.  Dice them up, the hearts can be roughly chopped but try to keep the red pepper dice uniform.  Make sure you remove the seeds and the middle part of the pepper as well as nobody wants to eat that.

Follow the above directions for the dressing.  Just make sure to add the olive oil last and to slowly add it in while whisking.  This will help the dressing to emulsify, or basically get the oil and vinegar to combine.  You don’t want the dressing separating!

That is pretty much the hardest part of this recipe.  Once all of these steps are completed, start by putting everything into a bowl except for the dressing and tossing till well mixed.  Then add the dressing and toss again to get everything well coated.  I like to let the dressing soak into the rest of the salad so I like to have it on at least 30 minutes before serving, and then give it another stir right before serving to get the dressing that settled back in play.  If you are making this a day ahead, don’t be afraid of all the dressing settling, just give it a stir 30 minutes before serving and then again right before and it should be a rage.

Other Thoughts

This salad is light and the fresher the ingredients the better.  Feel free to use fresh artichokes if you know how to properly clean them and have the time to add that into your prep.  Some other great items to add are garbanzo beans, black olives, and sunflower seeds.  Feel free to experiment and take a chance.  If it doesn’t turn out like you hoped, don’t tell anybody about  it and omit it next time!  Fresh herbs are never going to hurt this salad either.  Think fresh basil and oregano….yum.  If you decide to add any of these ingredients, just start small because you can always add when you think it needs more but you can never take it out.  Rage on!