My Best Salad Guy Style

I almost can’t believe that I am 6 challenges in. Tonight I was tired and really just wanted to throw something in the oven, but I made myself a promise, and it’s much too soon to think about giving up, even if just for a night. So tonight, we are venturing into episode 3 of season 1, and it’s time to try and make a Gourmet salad, my best salad. Like always, what’s the curveball that is being thrown into the challenge from Guy and his Flavortown crew? There is no lettuce or leafy greens to make my best salad. That certainly threw a wrench into my original thinking as it clearly did to the contestants.

So I started thinking about what other kinds of salads there are besides a leafy green salad, although the contestants of the show found some really creative ways to work around in their dishes. So I started doing the same and started thinking of chicken salad, tuna salad, fruit salad, seafood salad, and pasta salad. Where I felt stuck was making one of those feel gourmet. I honestly don’t know how well I succeeded in the gourmet part, but this was the best salad I could think of at the moment, so that is the direction in which I ran. 

One of the hardest things for me in this challenge was knife skills. I have been checking out a number of books and videos on kitchen knives and knife skills, but getting those beautiful clean cuts with even sizes was definitely a challenge, When I was looking at the final product, I wish it was a little prettier presentation-wise, but I did my best with it, and I hope when I look back in a year, I can feel the difference in my techniques. Maybe I will even remake this then and see if I can see a difference

Gluten-free Herby Pasta Salad.

What I used 

1 12oz box of Jovial Foods Penne Pasta 

1/4 cup Daisy Sour Cream 

3 Tbsp of favorite spice mix (For my Catelli Cabinet Spice mix recipe visit my Recipe Book)

1 cup Cherry Tomatoes 

1/4 Sliced Pearls Black Olives 

1/4 cup President Chuck Cheese Crumbled 

1 Cup Chopped Broccoli 

6 oz Boars Head pepperoni

Steps:

1. I boiled my pasta in a large pot of water with a little salt. I learned its really important to keep checking the pasta to be sure I don’t overcook it. 
   
2. While my pasta cooked I started chopping my tomatoes, broccoli, and pepperoni.
   
3. Once my pasta was fully cooked, I drained it and rinsed it in cold water. I have never found a gluten-free pasta that still tastes soft and good once becoming cold to refrigerator temperature, so I cool it down with water instead.
   
4. I added in my sour cream and spice mix to my pasta and stirred until the pasta was completely coated. 
   
5. Add your veggies, cheese, and pepperoni and mix until well distributed through the noodles and coated in the remaining sauce. 
   
6. Serve and enjoy 

What would I have done differently?

Honestly, I loved this recipe. It was so yummy. I just wish that the photos did more justice to this dish, as it was way prettier in person. This is one I would recommend 100%. It was so good. If I did anything differently, I would probably add in some more veggies, like a crunch from a cucumber, or even some cold chicken for a little more protein. Overall this has become a favorite.