Whole-Wheat Pasta Salad with Walnuts and Feta Cheese

Busy time for us, today we finalized buying a house.  Monday was our walk through and then we went to the appliance shop to finalize the purchase of the items in the kitchen I needed replaced.  Our dinner was simple.  This recipe by Ellie Krieger was in our Sunday paper and serves 4. 

Ingredients:

½ # whole wheat fusilli or other pasta (I used Penne)

½ C walnut pieces

½ C crumbled feta cheese

½ C diced red onion

1 ½ C chopped baby spinach leaves

2 T walnut oil

2 T red wine vinegar

1 clove garlic, minced

½ t Dijon mustard

Salt and pepper

Directions:

1.      Cook the pasta according to package directions.  Drain and rinse under cold running water, and put it in the refrigerator to chill. (I just set aside to cool.)

2.      In a small dry skillet, toast the walnuts over medium high heat, stirring frequently, until fragrant, 3-5 minutes.  Set aside to cool and then chop coarsely. 

3.      In a large bowl, toss together the pasta walnuts, feta, onion and spinach leaves. 

4.      In a small bowl, whisk together the oil, vinegar, garlic, and mustard. 

5.      Pour the dressing over the pasta salad and toss to combine. 

6.      Season with salt and pepper. 

We were delighted with the recipe.  It was refreshing and for once the dressing was the right amount for the salad.