{"id":12020,"date":"2010-09-15T10:15:21","date_gmt":"2010-09-15T14:15:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/foodembrace.com\/?p=12020"},"modified":"2010-09-15T10:15:21","modified_gmt":"2010-09-15T14:15:21","slug":"pasta-and-lentil-salad","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/foodembrace.com\/2010\/09\/pasta-and-lentil-salad\/","title":{"rendered":"Pasta and Lentil Salad"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"http:\/\/foodembrace.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/09\/OHC-lentils_stock.jpg\" data-rel=\"attachment-image-0\" data-rl_title=\"\" data-rl_caption=\"\" title=\"\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-12021\" title=\"Lentils \" src=\"http:\/\/foodembrace.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/09\/OHC-lentils_stock-300x225.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" srcset=\"https:\/\/foodembrace.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/09\/OHC-lentils_stock-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/foodembrace.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/09\/OHC-lentils_stock.jpg 1000w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a>This past summer was a hot one here in Columbus.\u00a0 Extreme humidity and high temperatures.\u00a0 The kind of heat where even sitting indoors with the luxury of air conditioning, you still don&#8217;t want to eat anything hot.\u00a0 Or heat up the kitchen.\u00a0 This left me seeking out meals that we could eat cold.\u00a0 A lovely cold meal that I could make ahead and pull out of the fridge when supper time rolled around was exactly what I wanted.<\/p>\n<p>I am a huge fan of pasta salad despite the fact that I&#8217;m not a huge pasta eater.\u00a0 However, I&#8217;m extremely picky when it comes to pasta salad as well.\u00a0 So much can be done with pasta salad that using a store bought mix or bottled dressing is unnecessary.\u00a0 Pasta salad is not only easy to make using ingredients you have on hand but it&#8217;s quick and the longer it sits the better it gets.<\/p>\n<p>That is my kind of meal!<\/p>\n<p>I love when pasta salad is loaded up on veggies!\u00a0 I view pasta salad as a way to get in as many veggies as I can, not as a source for eating as much pasta as I can.\u00a0 My personal opinion is that pasta is a vehicle for veggies and what better way to enjoy veggies than in their simplest form in a pasta salad!<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/foodembrace.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/09\/Pasta_lentil_salad3.jpg\" data-rel=\"attachment-image-1\" data-rl_title=\"\" data-rl_caption=\"\" title=\"\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-12026\" title=\"Pasta and Lentil Salad \" src=\"http:\/\/foodembrace.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/09\/Pasta_lentil_salad3-300x225.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" srcset=\"https:\/\/foodembrace.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/09\/Pasta_lentil_salad3-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/foodembrace.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/09\/Pasta_lentil_salad3.jpg 700w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<blockquote><p><strong>Andrea&#8217;s Pasta and Lentil Salad <\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>For the Pasta Salad:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>1C Uncooked green lentils<\/li>\n<li>3C Uncooked Whole Wheat Medium Sized Shells<\/li>\n<li>1 1\/2C Shredded Carrot<\/li>\n<li>1 1\/2C Peas (I used frozen that I let thaw)<\/li>\n<li>6 Green Onions, chopped, both the white and green parts<\/li>\n<li>1 Large Tomato chopped (do not remove seeds)<\/li>\n<li>1C Shredded Red Cabbage<\/li>\n<li>1 Small to Medium Sized Head of Broccoli, chopped in small bite size pieces <strong><br \/>\n<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Dressing:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>2 1\/2 &#8211; 3 Heaping TBSP of Dijon mustard<\/li>\n<li>1\/4C White Wine Vinegar<\/li>\n<li>1\/4C Olive Oil<\/li>\n<li>1\/2tsp Garlic Powder<\/li>\n<li>1\/2tsp Soy Sauce<\/li>\n<li>1tsp Sesame Oil<\/li>\n<li>Salt and pepper to taste<\/li>\n<li>Pinch of red pepper flakes<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Cook the lentils according to package directions and allow to cool.\u00a0 Cook the pasta in boiling water till just shy of being &#8220;done&#8221;.\u00a0 Drain and allow to cool.\u00a0 You want the pasta to still have some good bite to it, otherwise it will get mushy in the salad.<\/p>\n<p>In a large bowl, combine the pasta, lentils, and veggies.\u00a0 In a small mixing bowl combine the ingredients for the dressing and whisk together (can also be blended in a blender).\u00a0 Pour the dressing over the pasta, lentils, and veggies, and stir till everything is coated.\u00a0 Allow to sit in the fridge for about an hour.\u00a0 Gently stir before serving.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/foodembrace.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/09\/Pasta_lentil_salad2.jpg\" data-rel=\"attachment-image-2\" data-rl_title=\"\" data-rl_caption=\"\" title=\"\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-12025\" title=\"Pasta Lentil Salad \" src=\"http:\/\/foodembrace.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/09\/Pasta_lentil_salad2-300x225.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" srcset=\"https:\/\/foodembrace.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/09\/Pasta_lentil_salad2-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/foodembrace.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/09\/Pasta_lentil_salad2.jpg 700w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a>This is not a heavily dressed pasta salad.\u00a0 The dressing is meant to give the pasta and veggies a touch of added flavor.\u00a0 If you want more dressing on the salad, I suggest making the initial batch, and once the salad had a chance to sit in the fridge for a bit, you can drizzle on some more right before serving.<\/p>\n<p>The reason I keep the dressing simple and light is because I want the fresh veggies to be the star and not to be overpowered by a heavy vinegar dressing.\u00a0 The same goes for the pasta, I like my pasta lightly dressed or with just a touch of sauce.\u00a0 Otherwise the sauce takes over and you can&#8217;t focus on the pasta!<\/p>\n<p>This recipe makes a good bit of pasta salad.\u00a0 Scott and I were able to have this for dinner two nights in a row.\u00a0 It is definitely better the next day!\u00a0 The dressing will soften the veggies and the pasta the longer it sits, this is why it is important to not cook the pasta too far.\u00a0 Otherwise you will be met with a bowl of mush the next day.<\/p>\n<p>I topped our pasta salad with chunks of good quality extra sharp cheddar which took the dish up to the next level and provided fun little bites of creamy cheese.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/foodembrace.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/09\/pasta_lentil_salad.jpg\" data-rel=\"attachment-image-3\" data-rl_title=\"\" data-rl_caption=\"\" title=\"\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-12024\" title=\"Pasta and Lentil Salad \" src=\"http:\/\/foodembrace.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/09\/pasta_lentil_salad-300x225.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" srcset=\"https:\/\/foodembrace.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/09\/pasta_lentil_salad-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/foodembrace.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/09\/pasta_lentil_salad.jpg 700w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a>You can of course, use whatever your favorite veggies are or what you happen to have on hand.\u00a0 I&#8217;ve made this with kale and some red and green peppers.\u00a0 You can use red onion instead of green onion.\u00a0 Whatever your little heart desires. It&#8217;s pasta salad, the possibilities are endless!<\/p>\n<p>The recipe itself is vegan, adding the cheese clearly makes it not vegan.\u00a0 I&#8217;m sure you realized that though!<\/p>\n<p><strong><em>Have fun guys, and remember, always play with your food!\u00a0 Enjoy!<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>This past summer was a hot one here in Columbus.\u00a0 Extreme humidity and high temperatures.\u00a0 The kind of heat where even sitting indoors with the luxury of air conditioning, you still don&#8217;t want to eat anything hot.\u00a0 Or heat up the kitchen.\u00a0 This left me seeking out meals that we could eat cold.\u00a0 A lovely [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[30,64,16],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4KYWa-37S","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/foodembrace.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12020"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/foodembrace.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/foodembrace.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/foodembrace.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/foodembrace.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12020"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/foodembrace.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12020\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/foodembrace.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12020"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/foodembrace.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12020"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/foodembrace.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12020"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}