Fresh Tomato and Green Olive Pasta Salad

Total time: 25 minutes   plus 6 hours marinating
     This uses the best of the summer garden: fresh tomatoes and fragrant herbs.  6 - 8 hours is the perfect time for the sauce to blend flavors. The olives tend to loose flavor after a day, so I don't plan leftovers with this.

 Ingredients:

• 3 garden-ripened tomatoes, 600gr, 21.2oz
• 1/2 cup green olives, pimento stuffed, 80gr, 2.8oz
• 3 tbs olive oil, plus 1 tbs if pasta cooked ahead, 40.5gr, 1.5oz
• 2 cloves garlic, minced, 8gr, .285.6oz
• 2 tbs fresh chopped oregano
• 2 tbs fresh snipped chives
• 1 tbs fresh chopped parsley
• 1 cup bite-size pasta, farfalle, penne, 90gr, 3.2oz whole wheat penne

 Instructions:

• Peel tomatoes and roughly chop.  Put into a large bowl. 
• Cut olives in thirds and add to tomatoes. 
• Mince garlic and add to tomatoes. 
• Chop/snip herbs and add to bowl.
• Pour olive oil over all, stir to combine.  Cover with plastic wrap and let sit at room temperature for at least 2 hours, 6 or 8 is better.
• When ready to serve: Cook pasta according to package directions, drain and add to sauce.  
• Note: If you cook the pasta ahead, drain and toss with 1 tbs olive oil.  Combine with the sauce when ready to serve - or before leaving on your picnic.  The tomatoes, etc. need to sit without the pasta for the sauce to develop and the flavors to meld. 

To Peel Tomatoes:  Bring a medium pan 3/4's full of water to a boil on high heat.  Drop tomatoes in for 30 seconds - start timing immediately.  Remove tomatoes and drop into a bowl of cold water.  If you are doing a lot of tomatoes you will have to add ice or change water to keep it cold.  Now peel them with a knife or your fingers - peel will come off very easily. (You can peel peaches the same way) 

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Nutrition Information               Recipe serves 2            Entire Recipe / per serving Calories:  896 / 448 Total Carbohydrates:  90 / 45           Dietary Fiber: 16 / 8 Total Fat:  56 / 28          Saturated Fat: 8 / 4 Cholesterol:  0 / 0 Protein:  18 / 9 Calcium:  152 / 76 Sodium:   1274 / 637

General Technical Details and Disclaimer:

Measurements are actual measurements used for calculation. If there are no values the nutritional numbers were simply too small.

I try to be accurate, but I do not guarantee it.  I use 'grams' as the unit of weight; with an approximate conversion to ounces.

My information comes from my own digital, computerized scale
and the USDA Nutrient Data Library: http://ndb.nal.usda.gov/