Rotini and Kale Salad

Given my last post on pasta, I thought it only appropriate to make some kind of pasta dish. 

However, I ate it! 

So, I did what any good cook does and utilized a ton of leftover product; and made this delicious concoction I am dubbing “Pasta Salad with Kale.” I try and sneak in and experiment with dark leafy greens in dishes as much as possible.

This application makes a marinade/dressing for the pasta and really works well with kale to provide a great texture differential. You also get some of the bitterness from the kale which contrasts nicely with the other ingredients.

On a side note, I realize there were other ingredients in my pasta salad that aren't displayed in this picture and will make a better effort next time I do a pasta salad or something to have them in the picture. It really doesn't help when you do a photo shoot and you’re hungry…

Anyway, this is a great way to utilize pasta from the previous day and kind of clean out the fridge of random stuff. Please don’t feel limited to this ingredient list at all. Pasta salads are super unique in that they can be an entire grab-and-go meal depending on what you put in it. So, for instance you could increase the veggies and add a protein. I tend to view my unlisted ingredients as flavor builders and not as main stars of the dish – in this case it’s pasta and kale.

It is also super easy to just use (lemon vin) or any style dressing you have chilling out in the fridge. 

I used rotini pasta , but the goal is really to have something that is medium in size and in a shape that is more willing to include the other ingredients with it. Curled pasta works best here, don’t use string-style pastas or delicate pastas such as those wheel shaped ones (they break apart and don’t look good).

Ingredients:

1 lb pasta

1 tomato diced small

1 red pepper diced small

1 suntan pepper diced small

1 medium red onion (julienne)

2 cups (packed) red leaf or Tuscan kale (ripped or cut small)

¼ cup olive oil

Zest and juice 1 lemon

Sprig fresh dill chopped

Sprig fresh basil sliced thin

Salt

Pepper

Directions:

1.       Cook your pasta (learn the proper way here) or pull it out of the fridge

2.       While you’re cooking up your pasta, cut your veggies and remaining ingredients set aside.

3.       Combine ingredients with cooled pasta in mixing bowl or in original pot pasta was cooked in

4.       Season to taste

5.       Let sit/cool for at least an hour and a half before service

6.       Serve cold or room temp