Garlicky Vegetable Pasta Salad

*Not sure why this was saved and not posted from a couple of weeks ago, but better late than never I suppose.  :)

I am a huge fan of leftovers.  Huge.  Between working 40+ hours a week and having 2 kids that NEED to eat by 6 and NEED to be in bed by 7:30, I don't have a whole lot of time to cook supper when we get home.  As soon as we walk in the door the little guy starts chirping.  Cheese stick!  Cheese stick!  CHEESE STICK!  Thankfully splitting one between the 2 of them tides them over for about a half hour. 


However, Rachael Ray I am not (and really, can anyone really make any of her meals in 30 minutes) but I do try my best to not used any processed foods.  Don't get me wrong, I throw a hot dog or two at the kids every once in a while (and feel less guilty about it after finding nitrate free dogs) but overall we are pretty healthy eaters here despite the fact I am having a huge craving for nachos at the moment.  Not sure where that one came from but they sound soooooo good right about now.


I had the leftovers from dinner the other night to play with but didn't really have any carbs to serve with it - Man Food Rule #4 - must have carbs with meals.  Since I didn't think I could get away with tossing another loaf of bread on the table (OK, reality was it was getting moldy), so I threw together this pasta recipe from the same Cooking Light issue. 

It reuses quite a bit of the vegetables that we grilled the other night, but was different enough that it didn't seem like we were eating the same thing again.  I tossed in some extra vegetables and some extra olives for the kids since they love them.  I mixed the cold vegetables with the hot pasta so it was room temperature when I served it with some leftover tenderloin.  Another supper where the kids cleaned their plates and another new recipe to add to the files.

Garlicky Vegetable Pasta Salad
Cooking Light, August 2002
Yield: 4 servings (serving size: 1 3/4 cups)  

4 cups cooked fusilli (about 8 ounces uncooked short twisted spaghetti)

3 cups Grilled Antipasto Vegetables

3/4 cup (3 ounces) crumbled feta cheese

1/2 cup chopped fresh basil

1/4 cup Chile-Garlic Vinaigrette

3 tablespoons chopped pitted kalamata olives

Combine all ingredients in a large bowl, tossing gently.

Nutritional Information:  calories: 405, fat: 12.5g, protein: 15.2g, fiber: 6.8g, carbohydrate: 60.1g