Oregon Transplant: Bruschetta Pasta Salad

The best laid plans...

Today's post is being brought to you thanks to a generator the hubby set up. We are currently without power, and who knows why. At 5 this morning (not even in the middle of a heat wave or a thunderstorm) our power went out. As it's almost 7, it's been out for about 2 hours. I was especially irritated as I planned on leisurely getting up, making a cup of coffee, and hammering out a new recipe post. Making coffee was out, so the hubby and I ran down to the local convenience store to get me some store-made swill. He hooked up the TV and the Internet to our little Honda generator, so here I am!

It really does feel good to be back. During my break, I found that it wasn't my creativity that was waning. I created several new recipes and took tons of photos. It was really just the writing side of things that had me tripped up. I ended up starting a journal so I could get out all my non-foodie writing ideas, and I must say, that has helped a ton. It's almost like all those ideas were swirling in my brain, and they needed out before I could concentrate on other things. Once that was done, I found I had food post ideas floating around again.

Ah, refreshed.

Now, about this salad-

I saw this Bruschetta Pasta Salad on FaceBook, and that was all she wrote. I knew I had to try it. When the hubby and I arrived in Oregon and my mom mentioned she wanted me to make a pasta salad for a barbecue, this immediately came to mind. I mean, it has so many tasty components. Chewy, textured orecchiette pasta. Fresh, crisp basil and savory garlic. Sweet, juicy tomatoes. A lovely crunch from red onion. You will not regret making this salad.

I love cooking in my parents kitchen, if only for the reason that their kitchen is awash in natural light. It's perfect for taking food pictures for many hours out of the day. I think I can take natural pictures in my kitchen for a total of about, oh, 45 minutes. To give you an idea, here's where the windows are in my parents kitchen:

Window behind the sink provides a wash of natural light for their island. I know it's hard to see up in the upper left corner, but it's a pretty big window. I actually had a hard time finding a photo of their kitchen to use as an example :)

Their sliding glass door lets tons of light in the side of the kitchen. I'm telling you, it's perfect for taking photos. And now that I'm back in my kitchen (which has the light of a dungeon, compared to my parents), I'm wishing I'd made and photographed way more recipes while I was there. Ah, hindsight is 20/20, right?

Back to the food.

There are 2 parts to making this salad. Number 1, make the pasta. Rinse it under cold water, and set it aside. Number 2, make and marinate the tomato mixture for 15 minutes. The tomato mixture is all the good stuff- the tomatoes, the onions, the garlic, the cheese, the basil, and the dressing. It will smell heavenly while it's marinating-

It looks pretty too!

Once the tomato mixture has marinated, throughly toss it with the pasta.

Season with salt and pepper, and you're done!

We served this at a barbecue with family friends (there were 7 of us), and there were still plenty of leftovers. It was super yummy the next day too. My only word of advice? Don't make this on date night. You will have the most garlicky of garlic breath afterwards :)

Happy Monday friends!

Ingredients (serves 8-10 as a side dish):

12 oz orecchiette pasta, cooked, rinsed, drained

5 plum tomatoes, deseeded and chopped

2 green onions, finely chopped

1 tbsp red onion, finely chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 bunch basil, chopped

1 tbsp olive oil

3 tsp balsamic vinegar

1/2 cup parmesan cheese, shredded

salt and pepper, to taste

Directions:

1. Combine tomatoes, green onions, red onion, garlic, basil, oil, vinegar, and cheese in a large mixing bowl. Toss to combine. Set aside, and let marinate for 15 minutes.

2. Toss tomato mixture with the pasta.

3. Season with salt and pepper.

4. Refrigerate for 1 hour before serving.

Printable Recipe