Grillin' Like A Villian

In a previous post, I talked about my love for football. Even during the off season, it's not unusual to find me watching the NFL Network, waiting for any updates on the Green Bay Packers, or any team in general. 

Weird, I know. Whatever.

Even though I miss football, I love the warmer weather that spring brings. It's not unbearably hot (I'm looking at you Oklahoma summer) and the evenings are always so nice.

And that is why I love grilling and spring food. It's so fresh and delicious.

This recipe I'm about to share with you is a perfect addition to any grilled meat. It's easy to pull together and tastes delicious.

Plus, it's just so pretty. 




















All you have to do is cook up some pasta, pour it in a colander and let it cool.
















While it's cooking and cooling, make the pesto. You can use store bought pesto, but where is the fun in that? I followed this recipe for the pesto.

Then, I drained and chopped up a jar of roasted red peppers.

While I was chopping up the peppers, I drained some black olives in a colander

Then I mixed the cool pasta, red peppers and olives together in a large bowl.

In a smaller bowl, I took 1/3 cup of the pesto and 1/3 cup of Newman's Own Olive Oil & Vinegar dressing and whisked it together.

Next I poured the pesto and dressing mixture over my pasta and stirred it all together.

At this point, I went ahead and took a few bites. It needed more salt, so I sprinkled some kosher salt. I also added a few more spoonfuls of pesto. You don't have to. I just love pesto.

Next, put in in a pretty bowl, cover and in saran wrap and pop it in the refrigerator for a few hours.

Right before you serve it, sprinkle some Parmesan cheese on top.

Pesto Pasta Salad

Adapted from Kalyn's Kitchen

• 12 oz. Quinoa pasta
• 2 cans of sliced black olives
• 1 jar of roasted red peppers
• 1/3 cup pesto
• 1/3 cup Newman's Own Olive Oil & Vinegar Dressing
• Parmesan cheese

1. Cook pasta according to package. Drain and let cool

2. While pasta is cooking, make pesto

2. Drain sliced black olives

3. Drain and chop up roasted red peppers

4. Add black olives and red peppers to cooled pasta. Mix

5. In a separate bowl, whisk together pesto and dressing

6. Pour pesto mix over pasta and stir. Adjust salt and pesto to taste

7. Cover and store in the refrigerator for 1 to 3 hours.

8. Right before serving, sprinkle with Parmesan cheese.

***

We had this pasta salad with some grilled pork chops. We really enjoyed it. However, I made the salad too early so it sat in the refrigerator for 6 hours. That was a little too long, so I would definitely keep it around 1-3 hours. 

This would be good with grilled steak, chicken, fish, etc. It was really light and fresh.

You can also use whatever pasta you'd like. It doesn't have to be gluten-free.

Another great thing about this pasta is that you can put whatever you'd like in it. Tomatoes would be a great addition. My dad said he would like green olives in it. Whatever you want to add would probably be really good.

Enjoy!

Kaci