Moroccan Pasta Salad
By: VitaSpelt
This delightfully different salad was created by VitaSpelt prize winner Gail Dean of St. Augustine, Florida. Gail says, "Treat yourselves and experience a taste of Mediterranean cuisine."
Ingredients
- 5 ounce Spelt Small Shell or Spelt Elbow pasta
- 1/2 cup golden raisins
- 1/2 cup scallions, chopped
- 1/4 cup red bell pepper, chopped
- 1/4 cup green pepper, chopped
- 1/4 cup yellow pepper, chopped
- 1/4 cup fresh parsley, chopped
- 4 large spinach or Romaine lettuce leaves
- 16 orange segments
- 2 tablespoon pine nuts, to garnish
- Whole mint leaves, to garnish
- 1 cup plain low-fat or non-fat yogurt
- 1 tablespoon plus 1 1/2 teaspoons orange juice
- 2 teaspoon fresh orange peel, grated
- 1 teaspoon fresh mint leaves, minced
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper, freshly ground
- 1/2 teaspoon turbinado sugar, or other sweetener
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
Instructions
- Cook the Spelt pasta until al dente according to the package directions. Drain well, rinse under cool running water and drain again. Set aside.
- To prepare the dressing, place yogurt, orange juice, minced mint leaves, orange peel, cinnamon, salt, pepper, sugar, cumin and garlic powder in a 1-quart bowl, and mix thoroughly with a wire whisk. Set aside.
- Transfer the pasta to a 3-quart bowl, and add the raisins, scallions, peppers, and parsley. Toss to mix. Add the salad dressing, and stir gently to mix. Cover the bowl, and chill for at least 1 hour or until cold.
- Place 1 spinach or lettuce leaf on each of 4 dinner plates. Arrange 4 orange segments on each plate, equally spacing them around the edges of the plate. Mound one fourth of the pasta in the center of each plate, leaving part of the orange segments visible.
- Garnish each mound of pasta with pine nuts and mint leaves.