Artichoke and Tortellini Salad

Artichoke and Tortellini Salad

I spent the day cleaning the yard. A friend was helping and we were certainly going to be hungry when finished. I wanted a dish that could be a side salad or a main dish and require little prep time. After checking out my freezer, fridge and pantry I made this artichoke and tortellini salad. I had some frozen cheese tortellini that only required 5 minutes of gentle simmering.  A can of artichoke hearts, garlic scapes and a large scallion rounded it out.  The zest and juice from fresh limes added some extra zip.

Artichoke and Tortellini Salad 

1 lb. cheese tortellini, cooked and cooled

1 can artichoke hearts, drained and chopped

1/2 c. oil

1/2 c. chopped garlic scapes*

1/2 c. chopped green onion

zest of 1 lime

juice of 2 limes

1/4 c. chopped cilantro

hot sauce to taste –  I used about 2 teaspoons

salt and pepper to taste

Combine tortellini and artichoke hearts and set aside. Heat oil in skillet and cook scapes and green onion until crispy- about 5 minutes. Pour skillet contents into tortellini mixture, including the oil. Add remaining ingredients. Adjust seasonings,. Chill at least a couple of hours. Serves 8 as a side dish, 4 as a main dish.

*garlic scapes are the stems of garlic plants that are cut off the garlic plants to produce bigger cloves. They taste like garlic and look like curly green onions. If you don’t have garlic scapes add extra green onion and some fresh minced garlic to the dish.