I just can’t even with fall recipes right now. It is currently 90 degrees and my air conditioner is broken. When are you going to cool down, San Diego?? When???
Interesting tidbit for the rest of the country who doesn’t follow San Diego news- our current weather patterns are heating the ocean and we have all the Mexican fish up near San Diego now. Apparently this is exciting for the local fisherman, but somewhat scary when you think about long-term effects from a change like this. For example, starving sea lion pups… IT MAKES ME SO SAD! 🙁 🙁
Stepping off of soap box now.
Fall is one of the seasons that I miss most living out west. But, I can’t bring myself to miss winter yet. I’ve only lived here 2 1/2 years. The romanticism of winter has not yet replaced my memories of 4+ months of sub-zero misery. Yes this is what life is like in Michigan. (But omg June and July in Michigan. The best time ever. No seriously… better than California by a landslide.)
However, the fact that last winter I never had to wear socks except as a fashion accessory reminds me of why I live here (and, you know, jobs). But, sometimes nostalgia takes hold and you just want to go for a romp in an apple orchard and jump into a pile of crunchy leaves (let’s imagine me doing this as an adult human and take a moment to giggle). But really, when you go to an apple orchard, the driving purpose of said event is acquiring a hot, perfectly deep fried doughnut covered in cinnamon sugar and a steaming cup of hot cider. And the second purpose of said event is taking a bag of doughnuts home for later and hoping your obese cat won’t get to them before you do..(this has happened.. I swear he’s part raccoon).
Basically I am refusing to make pumpkin spice anything until my air conditioner starts working again or the weather returns to frosty 70 degrees.
Therefore here I am making a creamy greek pasta salad.
The Gourmet Gourmand Rebel. So for any other San Diegeans needing a recipe for (hopefully) the end of summer, make this salad.
Or for anyone else in the country who has recently overdosed on pumpkin spice everything, please make this salad.
(Also please don’t get weirded out by the olive brine that goes in the sauce. It works, I promise! When have I ever lied to you??)
This recipe is a winner, for sure. Enjoy!
Creamy Greek Pasta Salad
Ingredients
- 1 lb bite-sized pasta I used Gemelli
- ½ cucumber peeled and diced
- 1 roma tomato diced
- ½ orange bell pepper diced
- ½ green bell pepper diced
- ½ cup kalamata olives diced
- 3 tablespoons dill
- 1 cup plus ¼ cup feta cheese divided
- 8 oz. Greek yogurt
- ¼ cup mayonnaise
- 2 garlic cloves
- 3 tablespoons olive brine
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- Salt and pepper
Instructions
- Prepare pasta per package directions (I boiled the Gemelli for about 12 minutes). Drain and rinse with cold water.
- Meanwhile prepare the dressing by combing the yogurt, mayonnaise, ¼ cup feta cheese, dill, garlic, olive brine, and lemon juice in your blender. Blend until dressing is well-combined and garlic is well-pureed. Season with salt and pepper.
- In a large bowl combine pasta, cucumber, tomato, bell peppers, olives, and 1 cup feta cheese. Stir to combine.
- Pour dressing over the pasta and stir well to combine.
- Refrigerate for at least 1 hour, and up to overnight.