Skip to main content

Summery Balsamic Dijon Pasta Salad for Hot Summer Night

Two on Thursday
This morning started off checking off a to-enjoy list entry: morning run with hubby. Jason was not nearly as excited about the early morning run as I was. I think he fell asleep in the car on the way back home ;-)

I got in just under 6 miles (5.9 to be exact; yes I like to be exact). It really was a great run again today, though the humidity was definitely up there and not a bit of a breeze to help out in the cooling department. But, everything just clicked. Then again, maybe I wasn't awake enough to know any better.

During lunch, I was able to get my back workout done and some abs. I went with giant sets today of 2x8 and 1x10

Double-arm dumbbell row
Pullover
Rear flye

Band work - lat pull downs - 2x12

I did abs from Cathe's Power Hour DVD. It was a pretty good workout, but I really wish I had a barbell at the house for barbell rows. I feel like I have better form and can lift heavier weights for underhand position. Oh, while I'm "wishing," I'd like a pullup bar too thank you.

Pasta Salad Night
When I got home from work I decided to throw together an easy pasta salad to try to use some fresh veggies that were on their last leg. I can't really call this a recipe, but I'll list out the ingredients and what I did for my Summery Balsamic Dijon Pasta Salad.

Summary Balsamic Dijon Pasta Salad
Ingredients:
6-7 oz whole-wheat penne or rotini (cooked per package)
1 small zucchini, diced
1 small squash, diced
Asparagus, chopped (I was only able to salvage about 6 stalks or I would have used more)
1/2 can whole artichoke hearts, chopped
1 can chickpeas, rinsed and drained
1/2 frozen peas (more or less to your liking)
6-7 sundried tomatoes, reconstituted and chopped
To taste: lemon pepper spice blend, sea salt
2 tbsp nutritional yeast flakes 

5-6 tbsp Dijon mustard
Balsamic vinaigrette (or just balsamic vinegar) to desired consistency


Directions:
Drain the pasta well and transfer to large mixing bowl. Add the frozen peas on top of your hot pasta along with chickpeas, artichokes, and sundried tomatoes.

Meanwhile, steam the zucchini, squash, and asparagus for just a couple of minutes then transfer to mixing bowl along with spices and nutritional yeast flakes.

In a small bowl, whisk together the balsamic vinaigrette and mustard then pour over pasta and veggies, mixing well.

Refrigerate at least an hour.
 

While I let the pasta salad refrigerate, I enjoyed some pool lounging time. The water felt perfect on this hot, summer evening. The only way to top that off is with a nice, cool summery salad of course. I was really happy with this. I think the Dijon was a nice touch that added a little bit of thickness/creaminess to the dressing.

To-Enjoy List
  • Morning run with hubby (check)
  • Watching the sun rise (check)
  • Pool lounging (check)

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Love in Photos

In honor of Valentine's Day - Love in Photos Husband Family and Furbabies Friends Even if you're not a fan of Valentine's Day - I hope you have a wonderful day and remember the loves in your life.

Hump Day and More Pineapples

Full-Body Workout  I'll readily admit that getting up this morning was quite painful and almost didn't happen. I forced myself out of bed though not exactly excited about tackling a full-body Pyramid workout. Sort of daunting at 5 am really. I did the warm up from Shock Cardio Cardio Core Circuit (cardio only premix) then hit the weights. It was a pyramid up only so I increased my starting weight. I topped it all off with the first 2 1/2 drills from the cardio workout. I ran short on time and was basically spent. Squats into Plie Squats Step Ups (seriously hate these especially at 5:30 am) Incline Chest Flyes into Chest Press Pullovers into DB Underhand Rows Step Ups (freaking again) Static Lunges Overhead DB Press into Lateral Raises Deadlifts Kickbacks into Overhead Extensions Hammer Curls into Alternating Curls Calf Raises I am so excited to report that my new cross-trainers and running shoes arrived today. Can't wait to test both of them out. I waited way way way too

Hitting the Gym and Lazy Means Creative Tex-Mex Creation

Sunday, Gym Day Why do vacations and min-vacations go by so quickly? Just doesn't seem quite right. Anyway, we left Branson around 9:30 am to head back home. It was a pretty uneventful drive back, which is usually a good thing. We got home and unpacked, then I headed up to the gym. I started with a 10-minute treadmill run to warm up before hitting the weights for back and light legs then abs. I went with a giant set for back then supersets for legs. GS - 4x8 Underhand barbell rows Pullovers Double-arm rows SS#1 Rear-leg elevated lunges (Bulgarian Split Squats) - 3x8 Calf raises - 3x20 SS#2 - 2x8 Walking lunges Plie squats with low-end pulse Single-leg deadlifts - 2x8 I did some ab exercises, stretched, and called it quits. Lazy = Crazy Dinner I may have made it to the gym and washed a few loads of laundry, but I never made it to the grocery store - lounging in the pool trumped grocery shopping. This meant getting creative with dinner. We had another package