Daring true confessions of a food blogger! I’m our family’s ‘Leftovers Queen.’ Bill rarely eats leftovers. And Marc forgets they’re there.
When hunger overtakes, I go for whatever tasty…or potentially tasty…leftovers we have in the ‘frig, filling a ‘Don’t Waste Good Food’ ecological niche in our household.
Today, I put together a tasty, quick spaghetti salad for lunch with leftover noodles from last night’s dinner. Most pasta noodles are a good start for a hearty luncheon salad or light dinner. Use your creativity and ingredients on hand to put together something satisfyingly yummy.
This is what I did…
INGREDIENTS
1-2 cups of cold cooked plain noodles (spaghetti, buckwheat soba, etc.)
1/2 package (3oz) of Wildwood Organic Baked Tofu (your favorite flavor), cut into chunks
1 small Persian (or other thin-skinned) cucumber, washed and sliced
a handful of baby carrots, washed and left whole
5-6 bright green ‘Castelvetrano’ fresh olives (Whole Foods’ olive bar BEST-SELLER)
C’s COMMENT: These are NOT those horrible run-of-the-mill generic green olives you can buy almost everywhere in glass jars.
a drizzle of Stonehouse Persian Lime Virgin Olive Oil
a splash of Rice Vinegar
a grating of whole black peppercorns, to taste
and Herbamare Salt, to taste
INSTRUCTIONS:
Put the noodles in a large shallow soup/salad bowl. Add tofu cubes, cucumber slices, and green olives. Drizzle with Stonehouse Persian Lime olive oil & splash on rice vinegar to taste.
Arrange baby carrots in sunny rays around the salad’s edge, top off the salad with some freshly grated pungent peppercorns, and sprinkle with flavorful Herbamare sea salt (or other herbed sea salt of your choice). ENJOY your salad!
SERVES: 1
C’s COMMENT: This recipe may easily be adapted to serve 2 or more.
4 thoughts on “Cheery Spaghetti Salad for a Drizzly Gray Day”
Cynthe,
Since I am half-Italian, I like to eat meals like the one in your recipe because you combine pasta and vegetables. Later on I became vegetarian and incorporated tofu in my meals. i have been a raw foodist for the last 4 years, so I have replaced pasta with zucchinis and other vegetables to make the same recipe. I can digest it easier, and I feel like I have more energy. Thank you very much for your recipe.
Raw Food Guys ~ Bri liked and I still enjoy the versatility of pasta salads combo’d with veggies, beans, etc. It’s easy and hearty and colorful….what more would one want in a meal?!! Though we’re not all “raw” ourselves, I do eat raw food out-of-hand everyday for snacks: fruit – veggies – nuts mainly and big salads several times a week.
Looks and sounds delicious. I am going to have to try those olives from Whole Foods (I am used to the icky run of the mill ones from a glass jar).
This is a quick, yummy, easy meal…
BUT be forewarned those absolutely DELISH ‘green’ olives from the Whole Foods’ olive bar are addictive!! Way too easy to eat LOTS of them. You’ll never go back to those other awful ones in the glass jar. Let us know what you think once you’ve given them a taste.