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Asparagus Tortellini Salad

Fresh garden vegetables and cheese filled tortellini
tossed with a creamy dressing and served over a bed of baby spinach.
This is a perfect salad for your back yard barbecue,
or for taking along on your next picnic. 

Ingredients:
  • 1 350 gram package tri- coloured cheese filled fresh tortellini
  • 2 cups broccoli pieces
  • 8 asparagus spears, cut 
  • 1 red bell pepper, cut into strips
  • 2 carrots, thinly sliced
  • 1 green onion, diced
  • 1/2 red onion, thinly sliced
  • 3-4 cups of fresh baby spinach. I like to use this as a 'bed' for the salad when serving it, but you can mix it right into the salad. 
Dressing Ingredients:
  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 tsp white wine vinegar
  • 1 tsp Dijon mustard
  • 1/2 cup creamy ranch dressing
  • 1 tbsp fresh thyme, or 1 tsp dry thyme
  • 1 tbsp fresh parsley, or 1 tsp dry parsley
  • 1 garlic clove, crushed


Method:
  1. Boil tortellini according to directions on package. Remove from heat and immediately pour very cold water over. This will stop them from cooking longer and also cool them off quickly to add to the vegetables.
  2. Place cut up broccoli and asparagus in a sauce pan with a little bit of water. Bring to a boil and immediately turn off. Drain, and run cold water over vegetables. This will keep them crisp.
  3. Cut and place all other vegetables in a large plastic bowl and add cooled steamed vegetables and cooled tortellini. Put lid on bowl and give a good shake to mix. 
  4. Whisk or blend together dressing ingredients. Pour 3/4 of the dressing over salad, and refrigerate for 1-2 hours. 
  5. When ready to serve lay a bed of fresh baby spinach leaves on a platter and top with marinaded salad. If the salad has absorbed the dressing, add the remaining and toss, or serve remaining dressing on the side.

7 comments:

  1. This sounds amazing, thanks for sharing! I have several pasta salad recipes on my food blog too, they are perfect for summer
    daybydaysunshine.blogspot.com

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  2. That looks yummy. I have a tortellini salad on my menu plan for this week, but it looks a lot different than this one. That dressing sounds yummy.

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  3. A girlfriend of mine makes a salad close to this but, uses romain lettuce in place of the spinach, and ceasar dressing in place of the ranch

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  4. Absolument merveilleux !
    amitiƩs de France

    marylin

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  5. This salad looks great Kathy and I really like that plate!

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  6. mmmm...I love fresh summer salads! What a great recipe to try for the first official weekend of summer! :)

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  7. I have made this twice in two weeks. So good and easy. My kids LOVED it. Thank you so much!!

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