CS: Best Salad

This salad converted me to loving salads. Okay, and a good Cobb Salad, but that's really just some greens tossed w/ meat + egg + cheese + olives, right? mmmm.

Right, back on topic.

Warm Tortellini and Cherry Tomato Salad

"Extra-virgin olive oil and two kinds of vinegar make an easy, classic dressing for this pasta-and-vegetable salad. You can also try this with chicken or mushroom tortellini or cheese ravioli."

Yield: 6 servings (serving size: 1 1/2 cups)

Ingredients

• 2 (9-ounce) packages fresh cheese tortellini
• 1 1/2 cups (1 1/2-inch-long) slices fresh asparagus (about 1 pound)
• 3 tablespoons red wine vinegar
• 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
• 1 tablespoon extravirgin olive oil
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 4 cups trimmed arugula
• 1 1/2 cups halved cherry tomatoes
• 3/4 cup (3 ounces) pregrated fresh Parmesan cheese
• 1/2 cup thinly sliced red onion
• 1/3 cup thinly sliced fresh basil
• 1 (14-ounce) can artichoke hearts, drained and quartered

Preparation

Cook pasta according to package directions, omitting salt and fat. Add asparagus to pasta during last 2 minutes of cook time. Drain.

While pasta cooks, combine vinegars, oil, and pepper in a large bowl, stirring with a whisk. Add pasta mixture, arugula, and remaining ingredients; toss to coat.

Nutritional Information

Calories: 403 (26% from fat)

Fat: 11.6g (sat 5.7g,mono 4.4g,poly 0.6g)

Protein: 21.7g

Carbohydrate: 52.4g

Fiber: 7.9g

Cholesterol: 50mg

Iron: 1.9mg

Sodium: 725mg

Calcium: 415mg

Cooking Light, JANUARY 2005