Do you ever find yourself a bit shell shocked after Thanksgiving is all said an done?
You know, you wake up on Friday and open your refrigerator door. Only to be welcomed by an overwhelming amount of leftover turkey, stuffing, and sweet potato casserole!
Well, I have that moment every Thanksgiving.
Then,
with lack of imagination,
I proceeded to make a hundred turkey sandwiches!
This year I decided to change that. Stir things up a bit, no pun intended.
I wanted to try to use as many of my leftovers as possible, in as many different ways as possible.
This is where I started.
I love me some leftover turkey and I love Greek flavors. So it just seemed perfect for me to put them together in one dish.
Turkey + Pasta + Greek flavors = total leftover bliss!
Greek Turkey Pasta Salad
For the salad:
- 1 pound rotini pasta
- 3 cups shredded cooked turkey
- 1 pint of grape tomatoes, halved
- 1 jar (7-ounces) Kalamata olives, drained and rough chopped
- 1 red onion, chopped
- 1 cup fresh parsley leaves, chopped
For the dressing:
- 1 cup olive oil
- 1 cup non fat Greek yogurt.
- 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
- 1 tablespoon dried Mediterranean oregano
- 1 tablespoon dried basil
- 4 cloves of garlic, chopped
- Juice of 1 lemon
- 1 tablespoon honey
- Salt and pepper
Cook the pasta in a large pot of salted boiling water, as per package instructions. Drain and set aside.
Meantime combine the ingredients for the dressing in a food processor. Blend until thick and creamy. Add salt and pepper to taste.
In a large bowl combine the turkey, tomatoes, olives, red onion, parsley, pasta, and dressing. Toss until combined. Refrigerate for at least an hour to allow the flavors to combine.
Serves 8
ENJOY!!
This looks great, I would try it without the olives though.
ReplyDeleteYes, my daughter is not a big fan of the olives either
DeleteWow yummy! I'm not a fan of olives but hubby is. He puts them on his sandwiches and I say they're gross. I would take them out but he would love them in it.
ReplyDeleteEither way it would be great :)
DeleteThat looks & sounds absolutely delicious! Healthy, too, I bet!
ReplyDeleteYes it is fairly healthy and you could use whole wheat pasta to make it even more so.
DeleteThis is a fabulous recipe to use up the left over turkey! I love pasta salad, and never thought to add the turkey to it! Yum!
ReplyDeleteI know, I don't know why I didn't think of it before now!
DeleteThis is an awesome idea. I do always seem to end up with TONS of turkey left over after Thanksgiving and you're right - there are only so many turkey sandwiches we can eat!
ReplyDeleteI do adore turkey sandwiches though :)
DeleteLooks great. And long time no talk to. I miss the Food Buzz days a it was easier to see when people you knew posted.
ReplyDeleteI follow everyone on Bloglovin now :)
DeleteWow!! I love the plating you used. The salad looks great and sounds filling.
ReplyDeleteThanks so much Maria!
Deletei like the idea of adding another "culture" to american thanksgiving.
ReplyDeleteI love mixing things up :)
DeleteThis pasta sounds yummy! I will have to try it Friday or Saturday! I was just thinking about needing to find a gluten free stuffing, I am praying such a thing exists!
ReplyDeleteI believe I saw one on Pintrest. If you do a search you should be able to find it!
DeleteNow that sounds good - I haven't had a nice salad in forever I'm really fancying one now :) x
ReplyDeleteOh I hope you give it a try!!
DeletePasta salad is such a great contribution to any table and this is a great way to use leftover turkey from Thanksgiving.
ReplyDeleteYes and it makes the turkey go even further :)
DeleteThis is the great way to use up some turkey in a unique way! We plan our Thanksgivings specifically so that we are joining other families and also so we only have 1 days worth of Turkey left over; so we don't end up eating it for days afterwards. But this sounds like a great way to use up the next day turkey.
ReplyDeleteYes, we are going to be gone this Thanksgiving so I made a turkey just for us, and may do it again :)
DeleteWe love pasta salad and are also fans of Greek flavors. So, We are definitely going to have to give Greek Turkey Pasta Salad a try. Great way to use up left overs.
ReplyDeleteAwesome! I hope you like it!!
DeleteThis is great and looks yummy! but what makes it greek? the yogurt and ingredients? Just curious.
ReplyDeleteThe ingredients are all what you would find in many Greek dishes.
DeleteI am a fan of greek salad and pasta salad so this is on my menu!
ReplyDeleteFabulous!! I hope you enjoy it Pam!
DeleteI will be making this when we have all the turkey leftovers. It looks delicious.
ReplyDeleteThanks so much Jennifer :) Enjoy!!
DeleteI'm not sure I've had a Greek salad before, but my gosh does it ever look like I need to do it!
ReplyDeleteI hope you give it a try!
DeleteI'm allergic to Greek foods for some odd reason, but this does look good!
ReplyDeleteI know what I am adding to m menu this coming week! This sounds so good and looks way better! Thanks for sharing I have yet to have greek food!
ReplyDeleteYummy , this looks wonderful. I don't think I ever made Greek salad before but now I just may
ReplyDeleteI love using leftover turkey in new dishes and since I enjoy pasta salad, this looks like something I might try.
ReplyDeleteI saw this a few days ago and really liked how easy it is to make.
ReplyDeleteYUMMM.. this looks great and perfect timing for our leftover turkey... Love pasta ..thanks for sharing, soo gonna pin it and try it.
ReplyDeleteNice and healthy. Great recipe!
ReplyDelete