Lana's Salad

We take our lunch in almost every day.  It's usually leftovers.  Connie wasn't a leftover kind of a guy when he met me.  He's changed.  Mostly because he likes to eat and that's what we eat for lunch.  I intentionally fix four servings so we've got two for lunch.  Last Sunday while we were at the office (I'm eagerly awaiting the day my two new admins are trained and I can maybe take a Sunday off!!!) I took a brain break and read some of the recipes posted by my fellow Foodbuzzers.  One of them posted by Lana of Never Enough Thyme caught my eye.  Actually several caught my eye but this one looked so fabulous I had to try it right away.  Let me tell you how much we liked this salad.  We were still talking about it at dinner Tuesday night.  And, we're going to Symphony on the Prairie with some friends Saturday evening and this is my contribution to the dinner.  Same recipe twice in a week.  Can't remember the last time I did that!  Thank you Lana!!  By the way, I can't figure out why in the world I didn't take a side view pic of this.  I'll try and remember on Saturday...  So, here we go: 

Layered Mediterranean Salad

Ingredients:

1 cup whole cherry or grape tomatoes, cut in half
1 9 oz package refrigerated cheese or spinach tortellini
2 T red wine vinaigrette
4 oz feta cheese, crumbled
1 small red onion, very thinly sliced
1 1/2 roasted red bell peppers, sliced in thin strips
1/4 c shredded fresh basil
1 c quartered and sliced cucumber
1 can artichoke hearts, quartered
3/4 c kalamata olives
1/4 c finely shredded Romano or Parmesan cheese
red wine vinaigrette to taste

Directions:

Cook the tortellini according to the package directions.  Drain and toss with 1 T of the red wine vinaigrette.  Now, you're going to start on the layers.  This is gorgeous so if you've got a clear glass bowl, use it :-)

Layer 1: tomatoes tossed with the other T of red wine vinaigrette

Layer 2: tortellini

Layer 3: feta

Layer 4: onion

Layer 5: roasted red bell peppers

Layer 6: shredded basil

Layer 7: cucumber

Layer 8:  artichoke hearts

Layer 9: kalamata olives

Layer 10: grated cheese

adapted from Never Enough Thyme (http://www.lanascooking.com/)