MEDITERRANEAN PASTA SALAD

Several weeks ago, on a girl’s Bunco night, we were served a delicious Mediterranean pasta salad and ever since then I have not been able to stop thinking about it! So many of my favorite ingredients – sundried tomatoes, pasta, kalamata olives, parsley, and arugula…

And since I can’t get it out of my mind, I had to create my own take/twist on that recipe! I’ve added a few more of my favorite ingredients: avocado (I’m thinking you aren’t surprised with this one!), cucumbers, rotisserie chicken, and feta cheese. I couldn’t quite remember the dressing my friend used on her salad but it tasted light and fresh, so I’ve used a favorite here on the blog (this lemon vinaigrette from this sweet potato quinoa salad) and tweaked it slightly to pair perfectly with this salad. Picking a favorite pasta salad I’ve shared on this site feels akin to picking a favorite child, but I do have to say this one ranks pretty up there.

Ingredients

• Salad
• 8 ounces pasta, I used farfalle, any smallish pasta works great!
• 1 cup rotisserie chicken, chopped
• 1/2 cup sun-dried tomatoes (packed in oil), drained and coarsely chopped
• 1/2 cup jarred marinated artichoke hearts, drained and coarsely chopped
• 1/2 of 1 full English cucumber, chopped
• 1/3 cup kalamata olives, coarsely chopped
• 2 cups lightly packed fresh arugula
• 1/4 cup fresh flat leaf Italian parsley, coarsely chopped
• 1 small avocado, pit removed and coarsely chopped
• 1/3 cup feta cheese
• Dressing
• 4 tablespoons red wine vinegar
• 1 and 1/2 tablespoons dijon mustard (do not use regular mustard)
• 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1 teaspoon dried basil
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1-2 teaspoons honey
• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 3 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
• Fine sea salt and freshly cracked pepper, to taste

Instructions

1. Cook the pasta according to package directions until al dente. Drain the pasta and allow it to completely cool to room temperature before adding it to a large bowl.
2. Add the chopped rotisserie chicken, coarsely chopped sun-dried tomatoes, coarsely chopped artichoke hearts, chopped cucumber, coarsely chopped kalamata olives, arugula, and parsley. Toss. If not eating it right away, cover the salad and store in the fridge. If you are eating this right away (and not having leftovers*) add in the avocado and feta cheese.
3. .................................

for full recipes please see : www.chelseasmessyapron.com

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