Avocado and Artichoke Pasta Salad

I love making lists.

I make lists when I go shopping.

I make to-do lists of things I have to do.

I make a list of my working schedule when I have orders or when it is a busy period. Eg: Eid.

I make a weekly list for the dinners that I cook.

I am a list-maniac. Colornote is officially my best friend. Despite sounding so “organized” with all these lists, I am far from it. Story of my life.

I can’t wait for Eid to be over. There are SO many things that I want to cook and bake!

Things like…

Let’s make a list, shall we?

• Grilled vegetables
• Chili Paneer
• Shahi kofta
• Orange Julius
• Grilled vegetables
• Creamy tuna pasta
• Salted caramel cupcakes
• Grilled vegetables
• Mixed berries crumble
• Chocolate chip cookies brownie
• Orange butter prawns
• Grilled vegetables

If you saw grilled vegetables on the top, end and in between the list, no you are not seeing things. I NEED these Grilled Vegetables pronto. They are UBER delicious.

So yah that was a really short list of 12. The other 19485849 stuffs on the list shall remain in the back of my mind for now.

I was fasting today and I wanted to break my fast with something delicious, yet nutritious. Yup, I am the same girl who ate two slices of Tiramisu yesterday. In my defense, It was Sunday yesterday and WHO eats healthy on a Sunday? You might have some health freak name in your mind but I would appreciate it if you just keep those names to yourself and not get tempted in leaving those names in the comments box below.

So while ransacking the FULL pantry, I then saw a can of artichokes and I was reminded of the salad pasta that Sunny Anderson made. She uses artichokes in her salad. I obviously had to jazz things up. Instead of just tossing everything in a bowl, I lightly saute the aromatics (Read: onion + garlic) I also added some avocados cubes for that extra richness. 

The Avocado and Artichoke Pasta salad was sooooo good that I don’t think I would ever want to eat a pasta salad in any other way. This recipe was perfect. No cream, no cheese and totally vegetarian, yet still so guuud! Yes TM (my bestie), you can get your wife to make this for you. I am sure that some grated parmesan over it would make it even more delicious, not that this isn’t delicious to start with! I had it warm and it was delish. Warm salads are always Yummy for the Tummy!

I kept a small container in the fridge for tomorrow brunch/lunch and I just can’t stop thinking about it. I don’t think I can wait till lunch tomorrow.

Supper tonight? Hmm…very possible.

Avocado and Artichoke Pasta Salad

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• Author: Maya Kitchenette
• Prep Time: 10 mins
• Cook Time: 20 mins
• Total Time: 30 mins

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Ingredients

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• 1 can quartered artichoke hearts, drained
• 3 cups cooked fusilli
• 1/4 cup, pitted black olives – sliced
• 6 sun-dried tomatoes, diced
• 1 medium red onion, chopped and divide into 2 portions
• 6 cherry tomatoes – halved
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 avocado – cubed
• 2 tablespoon lemon juice
• 1 tablespoon rice vinegar
• 2 tablespoon olive oil
• 1/4 cup freshly chopped mint leaves or cilantro (or a mix of both)
• 1/2 teaspoon chili flakes
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper to season

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Instructions

1. In a frying pan, saute garlic and half of the onion for one minute.
2. Mix in the sun dried tomatoes, chilli flakes and saute for another minute.
3. Finally add in the pasta, season with some salt and give it a good toss and turn off the fire.
4. In a large bowl, toss all the other ingredients.
5. Top with shaved parmesan (optional)
6. Serve warm or cold.

Notes

I saute half of the onion and the other half was tossed in the salad, for some crunch.
If you do not like the taste of raw onion, saute all of the chopped onion instead.

Nutrition

• Serving Size: 6
• Calories: 251
• Sugar: 6g
• Sodium: 101mg
• Fat: 11g
• Saturated Fat: 2g
• Unsaturated Fat: 8g
• Trans Fat: 0g
• Carbohydrates: 35g
• Fiber: 8g
• Protein: 7g
• Cholesterol: 0mg