I used fresh (3 cheese) Tortellini and followed her recipe. I have a tendency to overcook things so I made sure to set my timer so I wouldn't over boil my Tortellini. While letting it cool, I prepared all the other ingredients in a big bowl then gently mixed in my Tortellini. I then covered it with glad wrap and waited several hours for the flavors to blend. And I must say, they sure did blend very well. Vico Girl's Tortellini salad was very delicious and I loved it!
Like all the salads that I have made, I would totally make this again soon! Thank you Vico Girl and thank you to all the Sunday Salad Sampler group members and especially my blogging buddies for the encouragements and feedback. It was a fun summer learning experience for me!
Here's Vico Girl's instructions to her very delicious salad:
I've been making this for years and it's especially good for a buffet/party as it serves quite a few. Now... I've never really measured the exact amount of the ingredients I use, but I tried for ST so here goes:
1 lb or a little bit more Fresh or frozen tortellini or a Barilla bag of dry tortellini. Boil as per package instructions and set aside.Don't over boil them! COOL them down a bit. (I used fresh tricolored).
In a very very large bowl mix together:
1 container of pearl or small sized fresh mozzarella balls ( I buy mine from Sam's Club or BJ's)
16 oz jar of Julienne cut Calif sun dried tomatoes in oil ( I use 3/4 of the jar)plus the oil! Just pour the oil into the bowl.
4 cloves garlic chopped superfine
1 large bunch Italian parsley chopped fine
1 jar black dried olives in oil pitted and sliced (This takes a while)
16 oz jar (or larger from Costco) Marinated Artichokes cut into pieces (24oz)
1 jar marinated red peppers cut in strips if you want
S/P and some extra virgin olive oil
Now that you've mixed the above ingredients well, add cooked tortellini a few scoops at a time mixing well. Cover bowl with glad wrap and refrigerate overnight as it taste even better the following day after the flavors blend together. Serve at room temp! I served mine with grilled shrimp.
We loved this salad. Your looks great. I too enjoyed making all these salads with this talented group of cooks.
ReplyDeleteHi Kathy, wasn't this a good salad? Very tasty. I cook with a timer too so I won't overcook things or forget about them. :)
ReplyDeleteI'm so glad you joined in on this - it's really been a lot of fun!
Hope you've had a great weekend!
Hi Candi, thanks for your comments. I totally loved the flavor of this salad. And as you said all of the salads were so delicious. Slow Travelers never fail to amaze me with their talents and knowledge. Have a great Sunday evening!
ReplyDeleteHi Annie, this salad was very good! Tasty is right. So glad to hear that I'm not the only one who uses a timer. :) I'm really glad that I joined the group too. Thank you so much for letting me know about it and for all the encouragements from you and the other group members. There were a couple of weak moments during the summer when I was not going to try something because it looked kind of difficult, but all of your photos and comments just kept inspiring me to try. And something unexpected happened. I ended up really having fun cooking and trying all the wonderful recipes. Eating was fun too! :) I had a fun weekend. I hope you had a great weekend too.
Thanks again Candi and Annie. Have a great Sunday evening and a great day tomorrow.
Here's another cook that uses a timer for cooking, especially for pasta. I agree, this was a great salad and so refreshing to eat on a hot August day.
ReplyDeleteI had so much fun making all the salads and I must say that having you join us was definitely a highlight. I loved reading your SSS entries and seeing your lovely photos.
Wishing you a great week, Kathy!
Hi Maria, you too! :) I totally agree that this was such a delicious and refreshing summer salad. Hope it didn't get over 100 degrees for you.
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for your kind comments. Being a part of this summer cooking group made this summer one of the best summers that I've had. So much fun cooking with my blogging friends.
You have a great week too!
I agree with you, cooking is fun but eating is even better!
ReplyDeleteIt's not too late to sign up for Sunday Small Bites (I just checked the message board and Eden just signed up yesterday).
A few ingredients that no one has chosen yet: chickpeas (to make hummus or another dip), sour cream, cream cheese, peppers. If I think of any others, I'll let you know. I hope you'll join in!
Happy Monday!
Thought of another one...salsa. It would be fun to see all the different salsa recipes people would come up with.
ReplyDeleteHi Annie, thanks so much for your suggestions. You came up with those great ideas so easily. Chickpeas would be good and so would cream cheese, salsa or the others.
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure why I'm being so indecisive....I maybe over thinking things. Which I tend to do when I'm not that knowledgeable about something.
Hi Annie, Me again...somehow I accidently published when I wasn't done commenting. oops.
ReplyDeleteThe Small bites group seems very popular with everyone. That's very cool! I'll go check out the board for the schedule.
Thanks so much again Annie for the great ideas! Have a wonderful day today.
Kathy, Annie gave you a few wonderful ideas. If I needed to choose one, I'd go with salsa. It is so easy to make and there are a gazillion (well, maybe not that many, but close) salsa recipes. Or how about a dip; I have a cookbook on finger foods and there’s a page with eight different dips
ReplyDeleteIf you join the group, your turn would be until January. It will be so much fun!
Happy Monday! :)
I'm also too quick with the mouse. I was proofreading my comment when I accidentally hit that publish button. Hopefully my comment is not full of typos. :)
ReplyDeleteHi Maria, so you have fast fingers too! :)
ReplyDeleteYes, I too liked Annie's suggestion. I'm thinking of the Chick peas or the Salsa idea. I'll go check to see if it is not too late to join. It looked pretty full to me. I'll go ask.
Thanks so much for the additional encouragements. We'll see if there's room for one more ... :)
Yay for chickpeas! I saw that you signed up and am glad you picked that since I have about five different hummus recipes I've been wanting to try. I end up buying hummus pre-made at the store and look forward to making it from scratch.
ReplyDeleteGlad you signed up - it'll be fun!
Hi Kathy, just stopping by to tell you how happy I am to see you on the schedule of the SSB! And with a great ingredient. I love chickpeas! I call them garbanzos.
ReplyDeleteHave a wonderful Thursday!
Hi Annie, I’m so glad that I joined too. I wasn’t sure I was going to be able to because the schedule looked really full. But Kim was kind enough to add me right away. Yay! :)
ReplyDeleteIt was a real tie between chick peas and salsa especially because you and Maria both highly recommended it. It seems that every party that I go to has salsa for an appetizer dip which is also why I would have loved to learn more interesting recipes to try since it is such a crowd favorite.
But I think what tipped the scale for me with Hummus is first, I don’t eat it at all and it would be something new for me. In fact, remember your fabulous couscous recipe…. Well, I was showing the photo of my salad to a friend and when they saw the peas “sweet peas” in them they were like that’s not chick peas! I didn’t realize that chick peas are garbanzo beans. I spent at least 10 minutes in the vegetable aisle trying to find chick peas and when I didn’t (I even noticed the garbanzo beans too) I just assumed it is probably sweet peas. When I went to look closer at all the other photos of everyone else’s salad I realize what I had done. My friend was in tears laughing. I still thought your salad was very delicious even with my mistake. Great recipes do survive amateur cooks like me. It was such a memorable goof on my part and it just stuck with me.
So, I want to challenge myself and pick Chickpeas to learn and try something new, Hummus. After this, I won’t ever make the mistake of using sweet peas rather than chickpeas again. :) I’m glad that you have some fabulous recipes to try too Annie. I think I found an interesting one that I will test out.
And this is why I have really enjoyed Sunday Salad Samplers and I know I will enjoy Small Bites too! It is really forcing me to go out of my comfort zone and try to cook more. I am really looking forward it. It’s going to be a lot of fun! And my co-workers are already expecting me to bring some leftovers to work … Ha, ha!
Thanks again to you and Maria for all the wonderful ideas and continued encouragements. Have a great day!
Oh Kathy, I am cracking up about your peas story. I did notice the green peas in the couscous but thought it was a good substitution (I like green sweet peas in salads). I can picture you searching all over for chickpeas!
ReplyDeleteChickpeas/garbanzo beans have another name too....something like Ceci beans maybe? I've seen it on cans before. They are my favorite bean. And I hope you like hummus - it's a great party dip but is also good to make pita bread sandwiches to take to work. It's a great vegetarian protein (and also tastes good).
Thanks so much for sharing the great story! And it's almost TGIF time!
Hi Maria, I think we were typing at the same time. I'm so glad that you like chick peas too. I also love salsa too and that would have been an awesome choice as well. I am so glad that I joined the SSB members too. It's going to be so much fun. I saw the list and it looks like a really fun and very talented group.
ReplyDeleteI was just telling Annie about how I learned the other name for chick peas or garbanzos. I'm going to enjoy doing something hopefully good with my recipe.
Thank you so much for all of your recommendations and encouragements Maria. Have a great Thursday evening!
Hi Annie, I think that is so funny that you thought that I had substituted it on purpose. But I can see how you would think that because people do make very good and creative substitutions. Hey, I was being a great substituting cook....:) Usually I have my phone and can google the ingredient from the store to make sure to get it right, but that day I forgot my phone and I was just feeling embarrassed (on that day) to ask somebody at the store. I probably won't be so embarrassed next time.
I have never seen Ceci beans either. I'm learning so much from participating in these great cooking groups. I think I'm going to like hummus. A pita bread sandwhich sounds yummy.
Yes, one more day until the weekend! Yay! Hope you have a happy Friday tomorrow. It is soooo hot here. In the 100's. August came late, but it has finally arrived.
Thanks again Maria and Annie! Looking forward to SSB.