For this salad we actually used a mixture of spinach tortellini and pesto tortellini. At first, the sound of pesto and the soy-ginger dressing didn’t seem like it would be a good combination, but it ended up tasting alright. Feel free to substitute any type of tortellini or even just a pasta would be good too.
Don’t be intimidated by the amount of ingredients in this one. There isn’t actually that much chopping involved and it can mostly be done while the pasta is cooking. If I had made this salad I would have omitted the mayonnaise, but there is so little in it that you can’t taste it, so it was ok. Mayo is not as evil as mustard, but it is close. They do allow nice emulsions to be made, so if you like these ingredients, by all means use them.
This was very loosely based on allrecipes.com. I’m really glad we didn’t add the roast beef and bean sprouts, yuck.
Ingredients
makes 8 servings
- 2 tablespoons salt
- 1.5-2 pound spinach tortellini pasta
- 2 cups chopped broccolini (or regular broccoli)
- 3 medium carrots, peeled and coarsely grated, or julienned
- 3 green onions, thinly sliced
- 1/2 cup chopped roasted peanuts
- 1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
- 2 packages of baby spinach
Soy-Ginger Dressing:
- 3 medium garlic cloves, minced
- 6 tablespoons soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon rice wine vinegar
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- 1 tablespoon sesame oil
- 1 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 1 tablespoons mayonnaise
- 1/4 cup vegetable oil
Mix garlic, soy sauce, vinegar, sugar, sesame oil, ginger, and pepper flakes in a 2-cup Pyrex measuring cup. Whisk in mayonnaise until smooth, then in a slow steady stream, whisk in oil to make an emulsified dressing; keep chilled until ready to toss with salad.
Prepare tortellini pasta according to package.
Place all salad ingredients in a large bowl. When ready to serve, add dressing and toss to coat.
