Artichoke Tomato Spinach Pasta Salad

Sometimes a recipe is so good that a taste memory survives in the recesses of your brain for years, no matter how addled that brain might be.

So it is with this Artichoke, Tomato and Spinach Pasta Salad, the recipe for which I found in Cooking Light Magazine in 1999. I made it several times during 1999 and 2000 then lost track of the recipe. My recipe collecting strategy back then was to rip pages out of magazines and stuff them in a cookbook. It was such a reliable and efficient method. Not.

Artichoke, Tomato and Spinach Pasta Salad sparkles thanks to a dressing made by blending two canned artichoke hearts with garlic, lemon juice and olive oil.

I’ve been craving pasta and artichokes and remembered this pasta salad recipe. Of course, I couldn’t find the magazine article I’d saved nearly two decades ago but a few minutes on Google yielded the recipe I remember.

The Dressing:

One of the reasons I like this pasta salad is the dressing, which is creamy and rich without any dairy products so you don’t have to be concerned with keeping it refrigerated. This makes it easy for a picnic or work lunch.

In fact, sometimes I make the dressing to use with a green salad, I like it so much. Blending two artichoke hearts with the lemon juice and olive oil and garlic is a magic combination.

Recipe Notes:

Keep in mind you can play around with this recipe. I used grape tomatoes and spinach but use whatever vegetable and greens you have on hand.

The original recipe called for a tablespoon of water. Whenever a recipe calls for water, if it’s a small amount, I substitute a liquid with flavor. In this case, I swapped the water for a tablespoon of the artichoke liquid.

Nutrition information for artichoke spinach tomato pasta salad