Mediterranean Pasta Salad with Carrots, Raisins & Feta (Adapted from the Camp treasure trove!)
I just returned from the woods of New Hampshire, where a one week trip turned into three. It was the most normal life has felt in the last four months. I gave myself a near complete break from thinking about COVID or political mishandling of damn near everything and instead played dozens of games, swam almost every day and ate dinner on the porch every night with my family.
I also discovered my grandmother’s treasure trove of recipes clipped from newspapers and magazines over the past 25+ years and sorted meticulously into folders. I perused them, sorted them even more meticulously and even made a few for those dinners on the porch. And of course left behind post its on the ones I made, so future perusers would know our thoughts and how I modified them.
One of the recipes I made was a Mediterranean pasta salad with carrots, raisins and feta. While I didn’t hear any complaints, I thought it was kind of dry – which was solved by mixing in some of the maple balsamic dressing I’d whipped together for the salad. The next day, I decided it would be a good lunch for the Island as a cold pasta salad, so I tossed in walnuts and a generous amount of the leftover dressing and it was even better than it was the night before.
I’m missing Camp a bit this week, so I decided to make another batch – but this time to skip straight to the pasta salad. I also made it vegan by subbing in my favorite vegan feta and adding chickpeas for some extra protein and fiber. I also used a chickpea penne to make it extra healthy!
Courtney was quite pleased to find this waiting for him when he returned from an 18 mile run!
Mediterranean Pasta Salad with Carrots, Raisins & Feta
Ingredients:
• 2 Tbsp olive oil, divide
• 1 medium yellow onion, diced
• 3 large carrots (about 2 cups), chopped
• Splash of white wine or vegetable broth
• 1 cup chickpeas, drained and rinsed
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• 1/4 cup raisins
• 1/2 cup roughly chopped walnuts
• 3 oz feta (vegan, if you prefer)
• 8 oz penne or rigatoni
• 1 Tbsp balsamic vinegar
• 1 Tbsp maple syrup
• 1 tsp spicy mustard
• Sprinkling of spices of choice: cumin, cardamom, cinnamon (optional)
• Salt & Pepper to taste
Instructions:
Heat 1 Tbsp olive oil in a large skillet. Add onions and carrots and cook until fragrant. Add the oregano and splash of white wine or broth and cook until tender. Add spices of spices, if using as well as raisins and chickpeas and remove from heat.
Meanwhile, cook the pasta according to package. In a small bowl, combine 1 Tbsp olive oil, balsamic vinegar, maple syrup and mustard and stir well.
Drain the pasta and combine with the vegetable mix in a large bowl. Toss in the chopped walnuts and the dressing and then lastly stir in the feta. Eat as is or chill and serve cold.
Serves 4-6
