Ingredient Notes
Tortellini – I’ve used both plain cheese tortellini and also spinach-cheese tortellini and both are geat. You can use fresh tortellini, which is found in the refrigerated cases near the deli in most grocery stores, or a dry – found in the regular pasta aisle. Frozen tortellini would work as well. For all options, just follow the cooking instructions on the package! Cucumber – I prefer to use English cucumbers in most of my recipes. They have thin skins and few seeds so they work particularly well in salads, but a standard garden variety cucumber works just fine as well. Tomato – this recipe calls for cherry or grape tomatoes, but you could also dice up some larger tomatoes, if that’s what’s available to you. Olives – The olives are optional. If you love them, use large pitted olives. If not, this salad is delicious without them as well! You will not see olives in the photos, because I’m actually not an olive fan! But many people are, especially in a pasta salad, so I’ve included them as optional. Onion – I suggest using red onion for both flavor and color in this salad. Mustard – You’ll use mustard in the salad dressing. Use coarse grain or stone ground mustard, available near the other yellow mustard at the store. This is the mustard with visible seeds. You can also use Dijon, just keep in mind Dijon has a very distinct flavor that will come through in the final flavor profile.
Instructions
Serving Suggestions
This salad is perfect for showers or luncheons alongside other cold salads like this Tabbouleh or this Blueberry Corn Salad with Honey Basil Vinaigrette. It makes a great side for a barbecue or even a fun prep-ahead meal for easy lunches during the week (add some Lemon-Garlic Herb Rubbed Chicken for extra protein!).
Can I make this ahead of time? Of course! Pasta salads in general are best once the flavors have had a chance to blend and intensify. Feel free to make this a day ahead and store, tightly covered, in the refrigerator until ready to serve. You could also do portions ahead of time like preparing the dressing or chopping your veggies.
