Pasta Salad With Tomatoes Cucumbers And Grilled Green Onion Crushed Olive Vinaigrette Food

GREEK PASTA SALAD

Steps:

• Fill a large pot with lightly salted water and bring to a rolling boil over high heat. Once the water is boiling, stir in the penne, and return to a boil. Cook the pasta uncovered, stirring occasionally, until the pasta has cooked through, but is still firm to the bite, about 11 minutes. Rinse with cold water and drain well in a colander set in the sink.
• Whisk together the vinegar, lemon juice, garlic, oregano, salt, pepper, and olive oil. Set aside. Combine pasta, tomatoes, onion, green and red peppers, cucumber, olives, and feta cheese in a large bowl. Pour vinaigrette over the pasta and mix together. Cover and chill for 3 hours before serving.

PASTA SALAD WITH GREEN ONION DRESSING

Steps:

• For the green onion dressing: Heat a grill. Drizzle 1/2 teaspoon of olive oil over the white portion of the green onions. Place the white bottoms of the green onions on the hot grill and grill until they are slightly softened and charred. Put the grilled whites of the green onions, the green onion tops, garlic, white wine vinegar, Dijon mustard and remaining olive oil in a blender, puree until smooth. Transfer the mixture to a bowl and stir in the sour cream. Season the dressing with salt, and black pepper, to taste. Set the dressing aside.
• For the pasta salad: Heat a grill. Place the cooked pasta in a large bowl, toss with 2 teaspoons of vegetable oil. Drizzle the remaining 1 teaspoon of vegetable oil over the red onion rings and season with salt.
• Place the red onions on the hot grill and grill until softened, approximately 10 minutes, remove the onions from the grill. Coarsely dice the grilled red onions. Add the chopped red onions, red pepper, yellow pepper, orange pepper, chopped parsley, and green onion dressing to the pasta. Mix to incorporate all ingredients. Season the pasta with salt, and pepper, to taste. Garnish with toasted coconut.

CUCUMBER TOMATO MACARONI SALAD

Steps:

• In a large bowl, combine ALL ingredients; toss to coat (adding more mayo and/or salad dressing to taste).
• Cover; refrigerate overnight to blend flavors.
• Stir before serving.
• Note: If you don't want to include the cooked hard-boiled eggs in the salad, I sometimes cook up 6-7 (or how many you desire), and just cut them into four pieces, and just lay them on top evenly around a large bowl with the pasta salad, so people have the option of having them or not-- and it makes for a nice presentaion-- if you are adding them into the salad, then 2-3 chopped should be enough.

CUCUMBER, TOMATO AND PASTA SALAD

Steps:

• Cook rotini as directed on package to al dante; Drain and run pasta under cold water.
• Drizzle italian dressing over pasta, mixing slowly so as not to break apart the pasta pieces. Add in tomatoes, black olives, cucumber, and 5 tablespoons of the feta cheese. Continue mixing ingredients until well-coated.
• Sprinkle remaining feta cheese over pasta mixture and top with almonds. (Instead of almonds I've used Melissa's Salad Sprinkles. This could not be located in RecipeZaar as a recognized ingredient but I wanted to record it in the directions as another option for a salad topper.).
• NOTE: If you don't care for feta cheese, try using Parmesan cheese instead. It tastes just as good and gives the salad a somewhat different flavor. Use only four to five tablespoons instead and mix in as given above.

PASTA SALAD W/FETA AND CHERRY TOMATOES

Steps:

• Cook pasta al dente and drain.
• Blend olive oil, garlic, balsamic vinegar, jam, salt and pepper until smooth; set aside.
• In large bowl mix green onions, carrot, tomatoes, cucumber; stir well.
• Add pasta and stir.
• Add feta and parsley and stir.
• Add dressing, mix and serve.

GRILLED GREEN BEAN SALAD WITH RED ONIONS AND TOMATOES

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350ºF. Place garlic cloves in small baking dish. Drizzle 2 tablespoons oil over. Cover and bake garlic until tender, about 20 minutes. Uncover; bake until garlic is golden brown, about 10 minutes longer. Cool.
• Peel garlic. Transfer garlic and oil to processor. Process until smooth paste forms. Add vinegar; process until well blended. Transfer to medium bowl. Gradually add 1/4 cup oil, whisking until dressing is thick and smooth. Stir in basil. Season dressing with salt and pepper.
• Cook beans in large pot of boiling salted water until just crisp-tender, about 2 minutes. Drain; transfer beans to large bowl of ice water. Drain; pat dry with paper towels. Toss beans in a large bowl with remaining 1/2 tablespoon oil. Season with salt and pepper. (Dressing and beans can be prepared 1 day ahead. Cover separately and refrigerate).
• Prepare barbecue (medium-high heat) or preheat broiler. Grill or broil beans until beginning to brown, turning frequently, about 2 minutes. Transfer to large bowl. Add onions and tomatoes. Toss with enough dressing to coat. Serve salad at room temperature.

CUCUMBER SALAD WITH ONION, TOMATOES AND GREEN BELL PEPPER

Steps:

• Peel the cucumbers, slit in half lengthwise and remove any large seeds and then thinly slice.
• Thinly slice the onion into half rounds.
• Dice your tomatoes (make sure that they are very ripe and full of flavor).
• Sliver the green bell pepper.
• Put the vegetables into a large serving dish/bowl. Sometimes I'll add extra cucumbers to the mixture, depending on their size.
• Add 2-3 Table. white vinegar, as desired.
• Add 2-3 Table. vegetable oil, as desired.
• Fill the bowl with water.
• Generously sprinkle with ground black pepper and especially salt. Taste to make sure that the water has a good flavor and that there is enough salt.
• Chill for a good 4 hours. Serve in small bowls or ramekins. The water that you serve with this salad is especially refreshing.
• Cooking time is the minimum chilling time.