Pasta Salad -- for a Light Lunch

Near my home there is a place called Tuscany.

Beautiful rolling hills, wind rustling through the olive branches, bales of golden hay rolled up in meadows....

Okay, Cut, Cut...That is the other Tuscany

Repeat again.

Near my home there is a place called Tuscany, the Italian Gourmet Food store. BigSis loves the pasta there. I love it too but she loves it more so lets blame it on her.

The other day I got a cold pasta salad for myself from the same place. It was a very simple salad, pasta, tomatoes and red peppers tossed in olive oil and with a generous sprinkling of Feta. It was really very good. I don't sing glories of vegetarian food just like that.

Big Sis wanted a taste and then she finished almost all my share. Not so good.

But I thought, "Hey, if the kid can eat Pasta Salad at Tuscany, she can sure eat one at home. That means so much less work for me. For the next 10 years or so until she goes to college, that is what I am going to feed her. Simple, light, almost healthy Pasta Salad. That leaves me with an enormous amount of time for blogging about food that I don't need to cook. Yippee."

So I searched high and low and settled on this recipe. Only I did not have mushroom OR bell pepper OR green onion OR black olives.

That did nothing to dampen my spirits. I had Grape Tomatoes AND Baby Spinach AND more lovely Grape Tomatoes and more tender Baby Spinach.

So in a big bowl I happily poured some Olive Oil, the EVOO...glug, glug, glug

Then I splashed some Balsamic Vinegar...splash

Added some Garlic Powder, Pepper powder, Sea Salt, bit of Sugar, some Parsley Flakes...sprinkle, sprinkle, sprinkle

Whisked together.

Meanwhile cooked Pasta according to package directions and a minute extra. I had Farfalle.

I had also roasted some of the grape tomatoes earlier, they were sweet.

To the big bowl which had Olive Oil etc., I added the cooked Pasta, the roasted as well as some fresh tomatoes and baby spinach. They were tossed and turned till everyone was happily coated with the dressing.

I wanted to add sausages too but totally forgot.

I then let it chill in the refrigerator. While serving a generous sprinkle of Herbed Feta went on top.

Everyone loved it. And after two meals of that BigSis said "I love your pasta salad, but can we not have any more of it?"

This one I am sending to Red Chilies to share with her for a Light Lunch, her brilliant series for June. I absolutely love light lunches as that is what I cook for us all through the week. I am looking forward to see  more light lunch ideas through out this month at Red Chilies.