Tortellini Pasta Salad, 6 points+

Happy Tuesday all!  I think summer has officially arrived this week.  It has been hot in a way that you know it will be even hotter the next day because it’s hot outside when you go to bed.  On days/weeks like this, all I want is food that is light, refreshing and requires little to no cooking.

I am pretty sure if it was possible to sustain on watermelon all summer long, I probably would LOL.

Breakfast involved a big fruit bowl prepared by The Husband with a FAGE 0% Blueberry Acai Yogurt.  As much as I LOVE these yogurts, I cannot help but be sad when I cannot scrape all that blueberry goodness out…..(3 points+)

I had the chance to get caught up a little working from home today and I pretty much ditched all plans of whipping something up when The Husband mentioned The Joy of Eating.

I was so proud of me for asking to have a salad with ranch on the side instead of fries….(3 points+)

Now for all my Weight Watchers meeting friends ~ THIS is the sandwich our leader was talking about on Sunday….it is quite possibly the BEST BLTA you will ever eat.

It’s the Sunrise Rise Sandwich without Mayo and without cheese.

I estimated on the high end by breaking down the ingredients….

• 2 slices of their homemade sweet bread (it’s like those Hawaiian King rolls) 9 points+
• 3 slices thick apple wood smoked bacon ~ 6 points+
• 1/4 AVOCADO ~ 2 points+
• lettuce, tomato

Pickles…..

Worth every single points+ and NO cooking is required on my part

My latest afternoon snack addiction ~ White Cheddar Cheeze It’s (4 points+)

I actually had every intention of cooking something off our weekly menu for dinner.  We have everything on hand for every meal on that list…..but, when it came down to it, all I wanted was something light, something that required little to no cooking.

I pondered having Harvest Grain Salad or my Vegan Pasta salad, but, I didn’t have everything on hand and that seemed like too much cooking in this heat.

I ended up driving out to Trader Joe’s to pick up everything just so I could satisfy my Vegetable Tortellini Pasta Salad craving. 

There is something so amazing about having puffy packed, doughy noodles filled with creamy cheese and garlicky basil pesto.  Add in your whatever vegetables and mix-in’s you have on hand then top with a quick homemade balsamic dressing for a quick, light summer meal.

TORTELLINI PASTA SALAD (print it!)

INGREDIENTS

• 1/2 cup carrots, shredded
• 1/2 cup red cabbage, shredded
• 1 zucchini, quartered and diced
• 1 cup cherry tomatoes
• 6 oz large black olives, drained
• 16 oz marinated mushrooms, drained
• 5 oz marinated mozzarella
• 18 oz cheese or pesto tortellini
• 1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
• 1 Tbsp olive oil
• 1 tsp honey
• Sea salt and black pepper to taste

INSTRUCTIONS

1.  Cook tortellini according to packaged instructions, making it slightly al dente (cooking for the lowest time.  Drain and rinse in cool water.

2.  Meanwhile add carrots through mozzarella to a large bowl.  Add cooked tortellini to the bowl.

3.  Whish together balsamic vinegar, olive oil and honey.  Pour over tortellini and vegetable mixture.  Toss and serve.

Makes 10 heaping 1 cup servings, 6 points+ each

Nutritional information per 1 cup serving calculated at caloriecount.com

STEP – BY – STEP

While your tortellini cooks, prep your veggies ~ I just used what we had on hand.

Add in the fun stuff ~ any mix-in’s you want.  I picked olives and Trader Joe’s 0 points+ Garlic Marinated Mushrooms.  Pepperoncini’s would be fantastic too.

Then, I decided it “needed” more.  I wanted mini fresh mozzarella balls, but, I did not have any…so I went with 1/2 of this Trader Joe’s Marinated Mozzarella Bread.

It has a little bit of heat, followed up with a rich sun dried tomato/basil olive oil flavor.

Add your cooked tortellini and drizzle with the quick homemade balsamic vinaigrette.

Toss, season with sea salt and pepper.

Dig in!

I cannot wait to have this for lunch tomorrow, but, I am definitely packing some extra balsamic just in case the tortellini and veggies drink it all up.

Q’s

What is the one thing you always add to your pasta salads?

Aside from pasta and veggies to bulk it up so I get more bang for my points+, I always add balsamic vinegar over anything else.  My favorite “surprise” ingredient that I get excited to see is  mozzarella balls.

Night all!