Tortellini Salad

Memorial Day proved to be a complete washout in NE Oklahoma. Starting in the early hours of the morning, we had one thunderstorm after another, all day, and a couple of tornado warnings thrown in for good measure.

Also, one of our cats, Alvin, had hurt his leg or foot on Saturday night, (doesn’t it always happen at the holidays?), and we had been trying to get hold of the vet since Sunday morning. He, of course, was out of town, and we finally managed to reach him on Monday evening. My purse was $98 lighter at the end of Alvin’s treatment, but at least he hadn’t broken anything.

Because of all the torrential rain, grilling was off the menu, but it was still warm so we had a Tortellini Salad.

Tortellini Salad

Ingredients:

1 9-ounce package refrigerated 3-cheese tortellini
2 zucchini, halved and chopped into bite sized pieces.
1 bell pepper, whatever color takes your fancy, cut into chunks
1 beefsteak tomato, cut into chunks.
2 ribs of celery, chopped.
¼ red onion sliced
6 tablespoons Greek vinaigrette salad dressing (or Italian if you prefer)
1 tablespoon olive oil + a drizzle
12 black olives halved (I used manzanilla this time as I was out of black)
¼ cup Parmesan cheese, shredded

Directions:

• Cook tortellini according to package directions.
• While tortellini cooks, heat 1-tablespoon olive oil in a large skillet over a medium heat, and sauté zucchini and bell pepper until tender but firm, approx. 4-5 minutes.
• Drain zucchini and peppers on paper towels, and allow to cool.
• Drain tortellini, and drizzle with a little olive oil to prevent sticking, allow to cool.
• In a large salad bowl, toss tortellini, zucchini, peppers, tomato, celery, onion and olives with salad dressing. Place in refrigerator and allow to chill for 30 minutes.
• Before serving sprinkle with Parmesan cheese.

Serve with crusty French or garlic bread.