Salad greens with pasta sprials & tomato vinaigrette
8 servings
Ingredients
| Quantity | Ingredient | |
|---|---|---|
| 6 | Lasagna noodles | |
| 9 | ounces | Mild goat cheese or garlic spice cheese, room temp. |
| 6 | To 10 large fresh spinach | |
| 1 | Small head Romaine lettuce, center leaves preferred, torn into bite-size pieces (about 6 C, loosely packed | |
| 3 | ounces | Stemmed & trimmed spinach, |
| 6 | tablespoons | Olive oil |
| 4 | Green onions with tops chopped (about 1/2 C) | |
| 3 | Cloves garlic, minced | |
| 2 | pounds | Plum tomatoes (about 16 medium) chopped into 1/4 leaves |
| 8 | ounces | Thinly sliced smoked salmon or lox torn into bite-size pieces about 4 Cups |
| 2 | mediums | Heads Belgian endive, thickly sliced (8 oz) |
| 1 | medium | Head radiccio, torn into bite-size pieces (8 oz) inch pieces |
| 6 | tablespoons | Raspberry or red wine vinegar |
| 2 | tablespoons | Chopped fresh basil |
| Salt & pepper to taste | ||
Directions
PASTA SPIRALS
SALAD
CHUNKY TOMATO VINAIGRETTE
To make pasta spirals: Fill a wide shallow pan half full of salted water. Bring to a boil and cook noodles until tender. Drain, rinse under cold water and pat dry. Meanwhile, rinse spinach leaves and while still damp, place in a microwave-safe pie plate. Microwave covered on HIGH (100%)
for 1 to 2 minutes or until wilted. Blot very dry. Cut out stems.
Arrange a layer of spinach over each noodle. Slice salmon diagonally into 1-inch wide strips. Place diagonally across noodles at ½-inchh intervals. The strips should touch the short end of the noodles.
Spread with a heaping tablespoon of cheese, spreading to the edges.
(If cheese is difficult to spread, warm it in the microwave until soft and stir in ½ to 1 teaspoon milk). Roll up tightly into a spiral. Place on a plate seam side down and spray tops with no-stick spray to prevent drying out. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least one hour. (The spirals may be refrigerated up to 2 days).
To prepare salad: Prepare lettuce, spinach, endive and radicchio, wrap in paper towls, place in a plastic bag and refrigerate (Greens may be refrigerated overnight.)
To make vinaigrette: In a large skillet over high heat, heat olive oil. Add green onions, garlic and toomatoes and cook, stirring, just until the tomatoes begin to soften, 1 to 2 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in vinegar, salt, pepper and basil. (The dressing may be refrigerated overnight.)
To assemble salad: About 10 to 30 minutes before serving, slice pasta into sprials ⅜ to ½-inch thick and let sit at room temperature.
Reheat dressing in the microwave or on top of stove until warm.
Divide greens among salad plates, spoon warm dressing over and top each with 2 to 3 slices pasta.
Recipe from The Detroit News, MM formatted and entered by Didi Pahl