Mediterranean Pasta Salad # Recipe #giveaway @VMBURNS

 VMBURNS: Sometimes, I get tired of eating the same side dishes and I look for something different. It's been really hot and for some reason, this Mediterranean salad spoke to me. I suspect it was the light lemony vinaigrette. I adapted a recipe, but can't remember where I found it. I do know that the original recipe included tomatoes and olives. I included them in the ingredients. However, I don't like them, so you will not see them in the photo.

INGREDIENTS

• 
• 
  
12 ounces dry pasta (I used farfalle)
• 1 English cucumber, diced
• 1 pint cherry or grape tomatoes, halved (Optional)
• 2/3 cup sliced kalamata olives
• 4 ounces crumbled feta cheese
• half of a medium red onion, peeled and thinly sliced

Lemon Herb VINAIGRETTE Dressing

• 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 3 tablespoons red wine vinegar
• 1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 2 teaspoons dried oregano, minced
• 1 teaspoon honey (or your desired sweetener)
• 2 small garlic cloves, minced
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• pinch of crushed red pepper flakes

DIRECTIONS

1. Follow the instructions on the box to cook the pasta. Then, drain, and rinse under cold water to stop the pasta from cooking. Then, transfer to a large mixing bowl. 
   
2. Dice your vegetables while the pasta is cooking.
   
   
3. Add all of the ingredients to the mixing bowl with the pasta.
   
4. Mix the Lemon-herb vinaigrette. Drizzle the dressing over the bowl and mix until all of the ingredients are evenly coated with the dressing.
   
   
   

READERS: I used farfalle pasta. What's your favorite pasta? Let me know in the comments for your chance to win a copy of A CUP OF FLOUR, A PINCH OF DEATH (US ONLY).

A CUP OF FLOUR, A PINCH OF DEATH

On the shores of Lake Michigan, influencer Maddy Montgomery has turned the bakery she inherited from her great aunt Octavia into a destination. There’s just one thing she won’t post: the body in the freezer . . .

Thanks to Maddy’s social media savvy, Baby Cakes Bakery is becoming a huge success—so much so that she’s attracted the attention of her former nemesis, the fiancé-stealing Brandy Denton. When Brandy blows into New Bison like an ill wind and disrupts a vlog Maddy’s filming, their argument goes viral. After Brandy’s body is found in the freezer at Baby Cakes, Maddy instantly goes from viral sensation to murder suspect.

As Maddy is still reeling from the murder, a stranger shows up in the bakery claiming to have been a friend of Octavia. He believes Maddy is in danger. When a second body washes up on the lake shore, it seems clear someone’s out to kill to keep a secret—and it may have to do with her great aunt.

Maddy rallies her aunt’s friends, the Baker Street Irregulars; Sheriff April Johnson; and her veterinarian boyfriend Michael—not to mention her English mastiff Baby—to do some digging and root out whoever’s behind the killings . . .

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