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An elegant submission from !

Please Fave the original Here

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I'm calling this a "Greek-ish" pasta salad because the original recipe I took the dressing and meatball components from was for a Greek orzo salad. This is definitely not that; it was made for a potluck this past weekend, fills a nice roasting pan-sized tray, and it's made to feed lots of people with dietary restrictions. Our group had vegetarian, gluten-free, and dairy-free people, so everything is Gluten-Free (with appropriate kitchen sanitation and GF ingredients where applicable) and served disassembled for the dairy-free/vegetarian people to choose between respective safe toppings. It was 75 degrees, so basically pasta salad season. Recipe can be halved or quartered for a smaller amount of people.
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Ingredients:

For the salad

- 24 oz Gluten Free Rotini
- 20 oz chery tomatoes. Quartered.
- 1 small red onion. Small diced.
- 4 (total) yellow, red, and orange peppers. Diced.
- Feta cheese crumbles, 4-8oz
- 10-12 oz Kalamata Olives. Pitted, and quartered.
- Zest and juice of 1, large, lemon
- A handful of flat parsley, roughly chopped. (I like a lot of parsley, adjust as you like.)
- A handful of dill, stems removed and chopped. (I like a lot of dill, adjust as you like.)
- Drizzle of olive oil, about 1 tbsp.
- Salt and pepper to taste.

For the meatballs

- 2 lbs of ground turkey, my preference is 80-85% fat. You can use leaner turkey if you want, but the meatballs may be drier.
- 2 eggs
- 1 cup Gluten Free breadcrumbs.
- 1/2 cup very finely diced red onion
- 6 cloves minced garlic
- About 1/3 cup finely chopped parsley
- About 1/4 cup finely chopped dill
- About 1/2 cup finely chopped mint (optional, I like it, the recipe doesn't need it)
- 1 tsp dried oregano
- 1 1/2 tsp salt
- pepper, to your taste
- 1 tsp lemon zest

For the dressing, with yogurt and feta - I use an immersion blender for the dressing, but you can use a processor or standard blender.

- 1 cup of plain Greek yogurt (I suggest Siggi's)
- 1 cup feta crumbles
- 1 tsp chopped dill
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 4 tsp lemon juice
- 2 tsp lemon zest
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder
- 1/2 tsp crushed red pepper (optional, I like it, the recipe doesn't need it)
- salt and pepper to taste
- water, to thin to whatever consistency you prefer.

Alternative dressing, Dairy free/Gluten free

- 1/3 cup red wine vinegar
- 1 large lemon
- 1 tsp dijon mustard (check that your dijon is safe for whatever dietary restrictions apply)
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp pepper
- 1/2 cup olive oil
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Instructions: The nice thing about this is that it's easy to make, it just has a long ingredient list :P

1. Salad:

-Cook the pasta according to the directions on the box; drain, drizzle in olive oil and toss. Set aside to cool.
-Chop/Dice/prepare your vegetables while the pasta cools. In a large bowl or pan, mix the tomatoes, peppers, onion, olives, lemon juice and zest, parsley, and dill.
-Add the cooled pasta and mix everything together. Season with salt/pepper to taste, then cover and set your pan/bowl in the fridge.
*If you're serving dairy-free people, keep the feta on the side.
*If you're not sure if everyone likes olives, you can also leave those on the side (I did).

2. For the dressings, I made both. Pick whichever one you prefer:

-Yogurt/Feta sauce: Add everything to a bowl or the container for your processor/blender. Process or blend until smooth, scrape down the sides as needed. Add salt and pepper to taste and process briefly. If it’s not thin enough, you can add about 2-3 teaspoons of water, then process again. Repeat until the dressing is a consistency you like.

-Dairy-free dressing: Add everything, except the oil, to a bowl and whisk together until combined. Slowly add the oil while whisking vigorously (drizzle and whisk at the same time) until the dressing emulsifies. Ta-da!

3. Turkey meatballs:

-Preheat your oven to 400 degrees. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper,
- In a large bowl, combine all of the ingredients until well mixed. I use my hands, you can use a spoon if that works better for you.
- Use clean hands or a scoop to make approximately 40-50 meatballs (about 1 tbsp of mixture per). *If you keep a bowl of water next to you and dip your fingers before making each ball, they're a lot easier to handle.
- Bake for 20-23 minutes, until a meat thermometer reads 165F in the center.
- Set the finished meatballs in a pan/bowl.

4. To serve:

This is very much a "choose your own adventure" kind of thing. You can mix the salad, dressing, and meatballs together in a pan for a less restrictive group, or do what I did and set everything separated, spread over a table/your counter. We had both dressings, the feta crumbles, extra parsley/dill, the olives, fresh lemon wedges, and the meatballs, each in their own containers with serving utensils, and let people choose their own dressing and toppings.