Delicious Summer Salad

Hubby and I are on a eat-more-veggies-and-less-meat kick these days. It's also been crazy crazy hot here in Los Angeles, so I find myself craving salads that require as little use of my stove as possible. This salad goes excellent with a crisp, light white wine such as Synergy Blanc from Novella Vineyards (a whopping $4.99 at Trader Joes).

CKS Note: I used a large red pepper instead. It gave the salad a lot more color and tasted just as good. I also didn't have time to refrigerate the salad before serving, but I still gobbled it up!

Tortellini Asparagus Salad

Ingredients:
18 ounces tortellini, refrigerated
1 pound asparagus spears, chopped
1 large yellow pepper
1 teaspoon lemon peel, finely shredded
1/3 cup lemon juice
1/4 cup olive oil
1 tablespoon dijon mustard
1 teaspoon sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 clove garlic , minced
1/2 cup parmesan cheese, finely shredded
1/2 cup green onion, sliced
1/4 cup pine nuts, toasted

Directions:
1. In a 4-quart Dutch oven, cook tortellini according to package direactions, adding asparagus and sweet pepepr the last minute of cooking; drain. Rinse tortellini and vetetables with cold water; drain again.

2. For dressing, in a screw top jar, combine lemon peel, lemon jice, oil, mustard, surgar, salt, and garlic. Cover and shake well.

3. In a very large bowl, place tortellini and vegetables. Add dressing, toss to coat. Cover and chill for 2 to 8 hours. Just before serving, stir in cheese, green onions, and nuts. Let stand 10 minutes before serving.