Warm Pasta Salad with Creamy Citrus Yogurt Dressing

The Beard and I have been trying to get out of the food rut we’ve found ourselves in, and are really trying to get out of our comfort zones.  He’s trying more healthy options, and I’m pushing my limits and trying things that I usually wouldn’t like.  This week’s cooking adventure was a pasta salad with a homemade dressing, which was usually a hard limit for me.  You see, in my family, pasta salad was simple: one box of tricolored rotini pasta and some Italian dressing.  And we ate it all summer long.

And I hated it.

It didn’t matter what temperature it was.  I hated the slightly warm pasta that had been sitting in some plastic container while we had a family cookout, and I hated it straight out of the fridge.  Then there was the inevitable “they’re all the same, just eat it” that was said whenever I insisted that the red and green spirals were absolutely not the same pasta and tasted different.

However, then I saw a recipe for a pasta salad that was not my mother’s pasta salad.  On one hand, it looked incredibly tasty and I immediately wanted to try something like it.  On the other hand, I don’t like raw veggies, and the Beard likes to have meat, so we had to sort of do our own thing with it.

Not My Mother’s Pasta Salad

We used a spinach and cheese-filled tortellini, to start, and used an entire pound of it.  While the pasta drained in a colander, we steamed some broccoli and fried up some cheesy turkey brats.  On top of all of that, we crumbled up some of that crispy bacon we had left from the black bean burgers we’d made earlier in the week.  With all the main ingredients done, we could add the dressing.

Now, I prepared the dressing a few hours beforehand, because I wanted to give it a chance to develop its flavor before we mixed everything together.  I really dislike mayo-based dressings on pasta salad, nearly as much as the Italian dressing the family always used, and I wanted something thinner and lighter in flavor.  Instead, I tweaked a recipe for a citrus salad dressing and ended up with a creamy, lemony dressing with garlic and pepper that complimented everything without being too overpowering for all the other ingredients.

Get Your Fork Ready

Once everything was finished, everything but the dressing was put in a large mixing bowl and combined.  Since we weren’t really intending to eat this cold, but didn’t care if something cooled off while we were cooking something else, everything was just warm.   Once everything was mixed, we poured the dressing over the pasta salad and gave it a good stir to make certain that everything was evenly coated with the dressing.

And you know what?  Contrary to that tri-colored “pasta surprise”, this pasta salad was amazing.  The Beard is still talking about it, and I know that we’re going to keep it in our regular menu rotation.  It would make a great addition to any backyard gathering, and it’s quick enough to make as a fast weeknight dinner.  Additionally, everything could be prepared earlier and mixed just before serving, and it tastes just as good cold as it does warm.

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Tortellini Salad with Creamy Citrus Yogurt Dressing

A fresh mix of textures, flavors, and temperatures, this pasta salad makes a delicious, quick weeknight dinner or a side dish for a summer cookout.

Course Dinner, Lunch

Cuisine American

Keyword citrus, Greek yogurt, lemon, pasta, sausage, spinach, tortellini

Prep Time 5 minutes

Cook Time 20 minutes

Total Time 25 minutes

Servings 4 servings

Ingredients

Creamy Citrus Yogurt Dressing

• 1/4 cup chicken broth
• 1/4 cup + 2 tbsp Greek yogurt
• 2 tbsp lemon juice
• 1 tbsp dijon mustard
• 1 tbsp + 1 tsp minced garlic
• 1 tsp black pepper

Pasta Salad

• 1 lb spinach and ricotta tortellini
• 1 broccoli head, medium about 2-3 cups florets
• 2 brats/sausage links, cooked we used a turkey and cheddar brat
• 1 tbsp grated parmesan
• creamy citrus yogurt dressing
• 5 strips bacon

Instructions

Citrus Yogurt Dressing

1. Whisk all ingredients together in small mixing bowl and chill.  That's it.

Pasta Salad

1. Prepare tortellini as directed on package.  While pasta cooks, fry the bacon until it's crispy, then crumble or chop into small pieces.  Strain and set aside both ingredients if the rest hasn't finished cooking.

2. In small pot, steam the broccoli.  We usually add about 1" of water to the pot and get it to boiling, then add the broccoli and cook for 7 minutes.  Strain the broccoli.

3. Cook the sausages/brats as directed, then cut into 1/2" thick slices.

4. Combine all cooked ingredients in a large mixing bowl then add the chilled dressing.  Continue to stir the pasta salad until the dressing evenly coats everything.

The Tart

The Tart likes to eat, cook, and bake things.  She eats to work out, and she works out to be able to eat.