My Favourites in One Salad
I love Pinterest; I've been using it for about five years and it is a real source of inspiration for me. I've bought products that I've found there, I've cooked recipes, tried craft projects as a result of browsing late at night, and I'm highly entertained by Nailed It! or the "Pinterest, You are Drunk" posts. I gather recipes that I'd like to try on my Deliciousness! and Entertaining boards.
To quote the famous line, "I love it when a plan comes together." So, imagine my glee when I came across a recipe that combines a lot of my favourite things? I guess it is no surprise that I had virtually all the ingredients to hand... Enter Strawberry Spinach Pasta Salad with Orange Poppy Seed Dressing. The only ingredient that I didn't have was the poppy seeds, but a quick dash to my local supermarket solved that.
This is an easy peasy recipe. Basically, put the cooked pasta, spinach, fruits and cashews into a bowl and pour the dressing on top. I happened to have rigatoni in the cupboard, but I think penne probably would have been a better fit.
I have never been good at making vinaigrettes or dressings, because I did not know the correct ratios. My lovely niece gave me a vinaigrette bottle with recipes on the side, and this was the first time I've used it. Since Creme de la Crumb's original recipe is for 10 people, I cut down on the quantities for the dressing, and have kept the remainder in a screw top mason jar.
All that was needed were skinless chicken thighs, and I was all set for dinner...
Would I change anything? Delicious as this was, it was on the sweet side, so I'd add more green veggies - probably cucumber, sweet green pepper and other salad leaves.
