Tortellini Spinach Salad with Balsamic-Tomato Vinaigrette

Cecily and I had company for lunch today, so it was a good opportunity to try out a salad I saw on Juliann's Easy Eats. I like salads, but do not eat them as often as I should, mostly because they are usually not enough to satisfy me. This was definitely an exception. I changed it around a bit to suit my tastes, adding turkey bacon and roasted red peppers, and found the dressing to be really delicious and the tortellini to great for filling me up.

I will probably eat the leftovers for dinner tonight, that's how much I liked it.

Tortellini Spinach Salad with Balsamic-Tomato Vinaigrette
Adapted from My Kitchen Cafe by way of Juliann's Easy Eats

Ingredients:

Salad -

20 oz package three cheese tortellini
6 oz turkey bacon, cut into chunks
6 oz bag baby spinach
1/2 red onion, thinly sliced
3 roasted red peppers, thinly sliced

Dressing -

9 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 ½ teaspoons dried oregano
1 ½ tablespoon tomato paste
Salt and pepper to taste (about 1/8 teaspoon each)
3/4 cup olive oil

Directions:

Cook tortellini in boiling water until al dente. Drain and toss with a teaspoon of olive oil to keep from sticking. Let cool in colander.

Cook turkey bacon until crisp. Remove with slotted spoon onto paper towel. Allow to cool.

In a large bowl, toss all the salad ingredients together after the pasta and bacon has cooled.

In a blender add all of the dressing ingredients except for the olive oil and process until smooth. Then, while the blender is running, slowly add the olive oil and blend until completely combined. If serving the salad right away, immediately pour the dressing over the salad and toss well (you may not need all the dressing). Serve.