Antipasti Pasta Salad with Kale and Radish

Fresh Spring vegetables tossed with marinated preserved vegetables, fresh herbs, pasta and cheese for a cool and quick vegetarian supper

If it's an Italian faux pas to say "antipasti pasta" I apologize.  All blame belongs to me.  I'm pretty sure that pasta antipasti is clearly wrong, but I'm thinking 'before the pasta-pasta' is OK.  Point is that I'm using traditional antipasti ingredients, combined with fresh spring vegetables, to make a tasty supper. Call it a multitasking meal--you've got your antipasti and your pasta course in one.

You know, I did make a title image for Pinterest purposes.  May as well share it even though I changed the post title after I'd made it.  Dithering--not a good thing after 2 hard ciders!

This is a great 'it's too hot, I don't want to think about cooking dinner' dish, as well as a Fast From The Farm Share meal.  It uses kale, radishes, and green onions from the Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) farm share as well as a swing by your grocery store's olive bar for the rest (no grocery store olive bar? The jarred items keep for a while and are worthwhile to purchase).  If you boil the pasta while you're fixing your morning beverage, you can be out of the kitchen in a flash.

When we moved here we bought a gas stove. [And a house to go with it. In that order.]  Getting the gas line installed took some doing--city permits and all that.  Using an electric skillet, a crock pot, an electric kettle, a toaster and a grill I fixed family meals for weeks.  I learned a cheater way of making pasta salads by buying the fastest cooking fresh pasta and using my kettle to boil the water then 'steep' the pasta for a few minutes.  It was an easy meal our first summer here, and something that keeps the kitchen cool even when the oven works just fine.

I'd been thinking about adding kale to a pasta salad for a while, and when I saw some marked-down olive bar containers I knew I'd go in an antipasti direction.  This would also be great in a more Mediterranean direction, later in the summer, if you got feta instead, and added fresh cucumbers and tomatoes when they are ripe.  The sun-dried tomatoes and marinated mozzarella make such a pretty bowl with the kale and radishes.  If you'd like, add some chopped cured meat or white beans for extra protein.

Antipasti Pasta Salad with Kale and Radish (serves 4)

½ pound pasta (some sort of fun shape like rotini or farfalle or shells that can grab the dressing)
2 to 3 cups kale, torn into bite sized pieces
¼ cup minced spring onion (or red onion, or shallot, or yellow onion, or scallion--it's all good)
½ cup radishes, sliced thinly
¼ to ½ cup olives of your choice (I'm partial to green and Kalamata these days), plus a splash of juice
¼ to ⅓ cup snipped sun dried tomatoes, plus a splash of their liquid
1 cup marinated mozzarella balls, plus a splash of marinade
⅓ to ½ cup marinated artichoke hearts, plus a splash of their marinade
¼ to ½ cup finely chopped Italian parsley and or basil
optional--2 to 4 Tablespoons of vinaigrette, if you want more than the liquids above
salt and pepper to taste

Get a large pot of salted water going first thing, then start prepping the vegetables.  When the water is boiling, cook the pasta according to package directions--and add the kale for the last 3 minutes of cooking.  Drain the pasta and kale, then rinse with cool water.
In a large bowl, combine the rest of the vegetables, cheese, and herbs. Dump cooked pasta and kale into bowl, toss to combine, and taste.  Is it too dry?  Add some vinaigrette. Does it need salt and/or pepper?  Add a generous pinch or a few grinds. Taste again.  Serve room temperature or chilled.

How I shot this--North-facing window, on the dining room table, foam core board reflector.

This post is shared on What's Cookin' Wednesday, From the Farm Blog Hop, Clever Chicks Blog Hop, Tasty Tuesdays, Food on Friday