My church has a restaurant, a really good restaurant called
The Grill…like people come there all days of the week to eat just cuz the food
is so delish! Whenever I eat there, I
get the same salad with a white balsamic herb dressing it’s sooo good, I might
order something else as well, but I always get the salad.
I love the dressing so much, that I copied it using simple
ingredients, and it tastes pretty right on spot on!
The recipes for Strawberry Spinach Salad and Tortellini
Pasta Salad are simple and made even easier by using the same Pesto Dressing to
dress both salads. I brought both of
these salads to an event, and no one even noticed that the same dressing was used;
they just loved both of the salads!
Pesto Dressing is super simple to make, because it uses
store bought basil pesto.
Strawberry Spinach Salad is just four ingredients including
the dressing, and it’s perfect with only those four ingredients; and the
sweetness of the white balsamic vinegar is what stands out about the dressing.
There is no chopping of anything of the ingredients for the
Tortellini Pasta Salad, so that goes together in a cinch, and the noticeable flavors
from the Pesto Dressing are the basil and cheese.
Normally I show step by step photos for each recipe, but the
recipes are so easy that you don’t need them; put the ingredients for the Pesto
Dressing in a bowl and whisk, put the ingredients for the Strawberry Spinach
Salad in a bowl and toss, put the ingredients for Tortellini Pasta Salad in a
bowl and stir…get my drift?
PESTO DRESSING
Makes 1 cup, serves 4
½ cup Prepared basil pesto
2 Tbsp. White balsamic vinegar
Juice
of half of a lemon
3 Tbsp. Grape seed or canola oil
2 Tbsp. Extra virgin olive oil
1. Put all of the
ingredients into a jar and shake well, or into a medium bowl and whisk well.
Store dressing in the refrigerator for about a week.
STRAWBERRY SPINACH
SALAD
Serves 4
1 -6 oz. bag Baby spinach
1 recipe Pesto
Dressing
1 ½ cups Fresh strawberries,
sliced
1/3 cup Sesame sticks
1. In a large bowl,
toss the spinach with half of the dressing.
Top the dressed spinach with the strawberry slices and sesame. Serve immediately with the remaining dressing on the side.
Serve with salmon, shrimp, chicken or pork.
Serve with salmon, shrimp, chicken or pork.
TORTELLINI PASTA
SALAD
Serves 6 to 8
1 -9 oz.
package Cheese or spinach &
cheese tortellini
1 -8 oz.
container Bocaccini, marinated or
plain, drained
1 pint Grape or cherry tomatoes
1 -12 oz. jar Marinated artichoke hearts,
quartered and drained
1 cup Corn kernels, either
frozen, or from 2 ears of corn which have been quickly blanched.
1 ½ recipes Pesto dressing
1. Cook the
tortellini according to the package directions and drain the water and toss
with half of the dressing. Allow the
tortellini to cool completely; it’s helpful to lay it a single layer on a sheet
pan.
2. Add the bocaccini,
tomatoes, corn, and half of the remaining dressing, stir gently as not to break
the tortellini. Give it a taste and add
more dressing if desired. Serve at room
temperature.
Notes: *Fresh mozzarella
which has been cubed may be substituted for bocaccini.
**I
also like to stir in baby spinach and/or cubed cooked turkey or chicken breast.
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The pasta salad on a stick looks so fun!
ReplyDeleteI'm always looking for a great new salad recipe! Thanks for sharing. I think it's great that your church has a restaurant. That must be fun!
ReplyDelete