Double Tomato & Cheesy Pasta Salad

Are you looking for something to take to a picnic this summer? Pasta salads are usually a staple at backyard bashes, but sometimes it seems as if all of the pasta salads taste the same. Not this pasta salad! It really stands out because of the flavors of the basil, capers, and sun dried tomatoes. It is also loaded with CHEESE, which to me always makes a meal extra delicious. Is that a bad sign?

I tested this recipe out about a month ago. My friend and I thought it would be fun to get together for dinner to celebrate our husbands' birthdays, and this is the meal that we decided upon making. She bought some ingredients, I bought some ingredients, and we put them altogether to make the salad. It was a hit. The recipe made enough for the four of us to have large servings (and I think the boys might have gone back for seconds), and all of us were able to eat leftovers for lunch the next day. 

Today another friend and I are going to make the pasta salad for lunch. I can't wait to eat it again. Yummy! 

Recipe for Double Tomato & Cheesy Pasta Salad

INGREDIENTS:

Salad:

1 box of Rotini pasta noodles

1 pound of grape or cherry tomatoes, halved

3/4 pound of mozzarella cheese, cubed

8 sun dried tomatoes, chopped up small

1 shallot, diced

Dressing: 

6 sun dried tomoatoes

2 Tbsp. of red wine vinegar

6 Tbsp. of Extra-virgin olive oil

1 clove of garlic, cut in half

1 tsp. of capers, drained of juices

1 tsp. of kosher salt

3/4 tsp. freshly ground black pepper

2/3 cup basil leaves, roughly chopped

Topping:

1 cup of grated Parmesan cheese
Chopped basil leaves

DIRECTIONS:

Bring a large pot of water to boil, add in some salt, and then cook pasta noodles to al dente according to package directions. Drain in a colander and then set aside to cool. 

To make the dressing, combine the sun dried tomatoes, vinegar, oil, garlic, capers, salt, pepper, and basil in the bowl of a food processor. Pulse until smooth. 

Put the cooled pasta in a large bowl and add in the cherry/grape tomatoes, sun dried tomatoes, mozzarella, and shallots. Pour the dressing over the pasta and toss well. Sprinkle on the Parmesan cheese and chopped basil leaves. Enjoy! 

Adapted from: Cook Like A Champion, Originally from Barefoot Contessa Family Style 

Cilantro-Peanut Pasta Salad & A Contest/Giveaway

Please read on for contest details!

A good friend of mine recently bought the cookbook Our Best Bites, written by the authors of one of my favorite cooking blogs. She was very excited about the cookbook and she called me up to tell me about all the yummy recipes she had found and tried. My friend invited me over to go through the cookbook with her and to chat. As I was sitting on the couch flipping through the book, she brought over a beautiful-looking pasta salad. She asked if I'd like to try some, but since I had just eaten dinner, I turned it down. She told me that the pasta was tossed in a cilantro-peanut sauce, and then she brought over a bowl of the sauce. I dipped my finger in it - I ate some - and I loved it. The very next day I made the sauce and the pasta salad, and I think I've made it at least 5 times since then. It is so delicious.
Feel free to use your choice of vegetables in the salad. I like using cucumbers, carrots, red and yellow bell peppers, and a little bit of kale. Don't forget to add the honey roasted peanuts on top - their sweetness and crunchiness really adds a nice touch. Enjoy!

Cilantro-Peanut Pasta Salad Recipe

INGREDIENTS:
For the pasta salad:
1 pound of spaghetti noodles or linguine noodles
1 Tbsp. of kosher salt
Your choice of chopped vegetables (I like using cucumber, red and yellow bell peppers, a little bit of kale, and carrots - crunchy veggies probably will work best)
Honey roasted peanuts
Toasted sesame seeds (optional)
For the cilantro peanut sauce -
1/2 cup of creamy peanut butter
1 lime, zested and juiced

3 tsp. of sesame oil
1 Tbsp. of rice wine vinegar
2 Tbsp. of soy sauce
4 Tbsp. of honey
2 cloves of garlic, chopped in half
1 Tbsp. of minced fresh ginger
1/2 cup of cilantro
1/3 cup of canola oil or vegetable oil
1/4 tsp. of kosher salt
3 tsp. of sriracha chili sauce or other Thai chili sauce
2 Tbsp. of water (use less or more to get your desired consistency)
DIRECTIONS:
Place all of the ingredients for the peanut sauce in the bowl of a food processor and pulse until it is smooth. Place in a bowl, cover, and put in the fridge for at least 30 minutes before using.
Boil a pot of water. Add the salt and pasta noodles to the pot and follow box directions to cook pasta to al dente. Drain the pasta in a colander and rinse it with cold water until the noodles are cooled. Drain again and then put pasta in a large bowl.
Mix in peanut sauce in to the pasta (sometimes I use all of it, sometimes I use half of it - it really depends on how much you want). Dish up the pasta on plates and top each plate with veggies, peanuts, and sesame seeds.
This pasta salad makes a lot of servings, and it saves well for leftovers.

Recipe Adapted from: Our Best Bites

CONTEST DETAILS
I want to thank my readers and friends for checking out the blog. I always get really excited about contests on the web, and I thought it would be fun to run a blog contest to show my appreciation.
Official Rules:
The contest will start at 04:00 PM EST on Saturday, June 16th and it will end at 11:59 PM EST on Saturday, June 23rd. Contest participants must first like Bake It & Make It with Beth on FACEBOOK. To enter the contest, you can either share any of the blog's recipes to your FACEBOOK page with a short description (make sure to tag Bake It & Make It with Beth in your posting, so I know that you shared) OR you can enter by leaving a comment (nice comments only) on any of the blog postings. A winner will be selected by random and they will be notified via Facebook message or email during the week of June 25th.
PRIZES: One grand prize will be awarded to one winner. The grand prize is a $25 Amazon.com E-gift card, which will be delivered to the winner's email inbox (to be spent in any way, although I hope the winner would use it for kitchen-related items)!

GOOD LUCK TO EVERYONE & thank you for participating!
 If you have any questions about the contest, please comment on this post. 

Contest sponsored by Bake It and Make It with Beth & 

is not affiliated in any way with Amazon.com