Summer Spaghetti Salad

The dog days aren’t overrrrrr, the dog days aren’t done. The horses ain’t even coming, so you don’t have to run!

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Do you see what I did there? I changed the lyrics because we’re still in the dog days. The dog days of summer. They’re not over yet. And I’m betting Florence and her Machine want to paper cut my shins about now.

BUT FIRST:

Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, THANK YOU for your unbelievable support and words of encouragement about my bebe(s) news last week. I couldn’t even keep my hormonal tears from ripping up my face as I read your amazing comments. I wish I could give you all a crown. Or a piece of cake. But that would get pretty expensive and I have some MAJ baby gear to buy.

Speaking of, mawns of twins, if you have any insight as to what I can get away with having just ONE of, pray the freak tell.

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So THIS. This is a pasta salad of sorts, but it uses long grain pasta. Which I find rather sassy.

Over the 4th of July holiday weekend, my in-laws hosted their annual pool party. We had friends over. We swam for hours. I got sooo buzzed on my cucumber water. (that was our joke the whole time. isn’t it hilarious? “bev, slow down on that cucumber water. you’re starting to slur!” never mind.) The table was overflowing with burgers, hotdogs, salads, dips, chips, sides, everything. Well, of course I’m obsessed with my little babycenter app that alerts me, “don’t do this! you can do that! stay away from this! enjoy that! say hi to frank!”

And I’m like, “You got it, app! But who’s Frank?”

Truth is, noooooooooothing has remotely appealed to me for a few months. Meat is basically out the window. I’m sprinkling protein powder on my ice cream, for crying out loud.

But when I saw a version of this pasta salad on the table, I almost cried. It looked.so.good. Carbs, fresh veggies, buckets of lemon juice, cheese chunks? HA-DONE.

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OH. A word on the cheese chunks. Oh you don’t want me to call them cheese chunks? Sorry about that. In the photo above I was chunking up some parmesan cheese. Then I remembered to check to see if it’s pasteurized or not. Um, it says “CULTURED milk.” So, I got online to look up what cultured is blah blah blah. Got on the cheese brand’s (Bel Giososoissosis) website to see what I could find, and nothing. So, I didn’t use this cheese in the salad. But you should! If you’re not knocked up. I chunked up some string cheese and used it in the final dish and cartoon birds swooped in and braided my hair.

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If you can, find thin spaghetti. My little store was out this particular day, so I bought reg spagh (oh that rhymed).

Go heavy on the lemon dressing. That zing paired with all the fresh peppers, tomatoes, cucumber and celery will give you a serious promise of a new day.

And go heavy on the cheese chunks (doh!) because it’s the only way in this life.

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So what DOES “cultured” mean? Besides my suave hair.

Spaghetti Summer Salad:

What it took for 4:

* 2 small cucumbers, sliced and halved
* 1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
* 1 green bell pepper, diced
* 2 stalks celery, diced
* 2 cups chopped kale
* 1/2 cup diced parmesan cheese (or mozzarella)
* 4 Tbs. extra-virgin olive oil (or more if needed!)
* juice of one lemon
* 1/2 cup freshly chopped parsley
* 1 pound thin spaghetti
* coarse salt and freshly ground pepper

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the kale and cook for 20 seconds. Using a large slotted spoon, transfer the kale to an ice bath. Shock the kale to stop the cooking. Drain the water.

Add the pasta to the pot of boiling water and boil until al dente. Drain and rinse under cool water.

Toss the chopped veggies in a large bowl.

In a smaller bowl, whisk together the oil, lemon juice, a pinch of salt and pepper.

Add the cooled spaghetti and cheese chunks to the veggies. Pour the dressing over the the pasta; sprinkle with parsley. Give it all a goooood toss. Taste it. Need anything? More lemon? Another pinch of salt?

*you could also add scallions and diced carrots if you want! The sky and your stomach is the limit!

Serve serve serve!

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I’m going to crawl to the bottom of this bowl and never come out.

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32 Responses to Summer Spaghetti Salad

  1. Brianna July 15, 2013 at 8:44 am #
    This pasta salad looks perfect for a summery dinner in the backyard. Pinning this! :D
  2. Tieghan July 15, 2013 at 8:50 am #
    So prefect! This is on awesome pasta salad, Bev!
  3. dixya| food, pleasure, and health July 15, 2013 at 10:10 am #
    this is perfect :) :)
  4. Heather July 15, 2013 at 10:39 am #
    Well hellO summer in a bowl!
  5. Kristi July 15, 2013 at 11:12 am #
    So glad I came across this recipe.. I have a bunch of kale that needs to be used.
  6. Katrina @ Warm Vanilla Sugar July 15, 2013 at 11:33 am #
    Oh my! This is such a fabulous summer recipe. Congrats again on baby news!
  7. krystal July 15, 2013 at 12:02 pm #
    All cheese is cultured milk (they take milk and add cheese-making bacteria and usually salt or enzymes). I think, and mind you - I've never been pregnant, as long as the milk used to make the cheese is pasteurized you should be fine. I would steer clear of anything that says "raw milk" ... although I do that anyway. Salad looks tasty! I like the idea of using long pasta.
  8. Erin L July 15, 2013 at 12:45 pm #
    I have to laugh at you checking your Babycenter app! I'm totally there with you! (...is Jamba Juice off limits?? When can I color my hair again??? What about ice cream made with eggs????...) My OBGYN says that all hard cheeses are fine-- just make sure the soft ones are pasteurized-- or heat them until steaming. Someday I will want to eat vegetables again... until then I'll just file this beauty away!
  9. Amanda Mohr July 15, 2013 at 1:42 pm #
    I bet this would be awesome with avocado in it!!
  10. cassie July 15, 2013 at 3:17 pm #
    When nothing else sounds good I always turn to carbs. Love this!
  11. Alison @ ingredients, Inc. July 15, 2013 at 3:21 pm #
    loving this girl!
  12. Cookbook Queen July 15, 2013 at 4:17 pm #
    Loving this salad!! But also I am loving the baby talk. Babycenter. AAAACCCKK!! So addicting!! I still get weekly emails that tell me what stage Lucy is at by now...and I'm all "You guys are mindreaders!! What?!?". Seriously. Babycenter knows errrthang.
  13. Becky Selders July 15, 2013 at 4:26 pm #
    This looks really good and we shall try it!! I don't get to get on Facebook frequently so I didn't know about the baby! Congratulations!! And you look great!
  14. Chandra@The Plaid and Paisley Kitchen July 15, 2013 at 5:35 pm #
    Great Looking Salad and Beautiful Pictures!
  15. Julie @ Table for Two July 15, 2013 at 7:23 pm #
    Loving that lemon dressing!! Wish I had a big ol' bowl of this right now!!
  16. Kiran @ KiranTarun.com July 15, 2013 at 7:51 pm #
    I need a huge plate of this right now. So summery and delish!
  17. LT July 15, 2013 at 9:03 pm #
    Great pics, Great recipe, Great news!!! Prayers n Blessings LT
  18. Lori July 15, 2013 at 10:41 pm #
    I've been making this for years but I use Italian dressing, and find it's better the longer it sits.
  19. Aggie July 16, 2013 at 5:38 am #
    Ha ha ha about looking up the cheese - I totally do that all the time still (and this is my third kiddo). Sometimes I don't know what the heck I'm supposed to eat. Spaghetti pasta salad is genius! loving this creation.
  20. Pamela @ Brooklyn Farm Girl July 16, 2013 at 12:03 pm #
    Loving how fresh and summery this looks!
  21. Jennie @themessybakerblog July 16, 2013 at 3:07 pm #
    This salad looks perfect for this hot, frizzy hair weather we're having. I can't imagine having to turn on my oven, so this dish is perfect.
  22. Des @ Life's Ambrosia July 16, 2013 at 4:36 pm #
    Oh I had many of those cheese episodes when I was pregnant too and avoided cheeses too. I think something about the aging process of hard cheeses is what makes them safe but I wasn't 100% sure so I avoided them too. But they tasted AMAZING after I had my little dude :)
  23. danica July 16, 2013 at 10:00 pm #
    That looks so yummy! BTW, raw milk cheeses are pretty hard to find in this country, so pretty much anything you can find at a "normal" grocery store is fair game. Pig out, woman! Get your protein via cheeeeeeese!
  24. Megan {Country Cleaver} July 17, 2013 at 12:05 pm #
    Get in myyy bellehhhh!!
  25. Paula - bell'alimento July 17, 2013 at 1:08 pm #
    I'm going to beat you to the bottom of the bowl. Ready set GO!
  26. Kelly Senyei | Just a Taste July 17, 2013 at 2:16 pm #
    This looks beautiful, Bev! Love all those fresh summer flavors!
  27. Carmella W. Compton July 18, 2013 at 6:21 pm #
    You can top this pasta with some grilled shrimp or chicken, but I find it very satisfying as is. If you do not like feta, goat cheese would be an acceptable substitute.
  28. Olin Park July 21, 2013 at 3:51 am #
    Too lemony for me and I LOVE lemon! I'm not sure how to tone that down without simply decreasing the amount of lemon juice and you definitely don't need the zest. I'm going to mix the leftover pasta with my leftover chicken piccata and sautéed zucchini and see how that works!

Trackbacks/Pingbacks

  1. Weekly Menu Plan | Week of July 22, 2013 - Thrifty Veggie Mama | Thrifty Veggie Mama - July 22, 2013 [...] Saturday:  A variation of Summer Spaghetti Salad [...]
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