Caesar Tortellini Salad

I received this recipe through my First Place class a couple of weeks back. I made it as a side dish tonight for dinner and this is a KEEPER! Highly recommended!

My only changes: Omitted the onion and I cooked the asparagus in boiling water for about 3 minutes before cooling and adding it to the salad.

Caesar Tortellini Salad

1 package Three Cheese Tortellini

2 cups cherry tomatoes, halved

1 medium cucumber, peeled and sliced

1/2 cup purple onion

1/4 cup sliced or whole ripe olives

1 to 2 bunches asparagus, ends cut about 1 1/2 inches for salad

1/4 cup fresh grated parmesan cheese

cracked pepper to taste

4 cups romaine lettuce

3/4 cup (or more, according to taste) Caesar Dressing (I used Ken's Light Caesar Dressing)

Cook tortellini according to package directions. When done, drain. Drizzle some Caesar dressing over tortellini and let cool. You can put this in a container and place in the fridge even overnight if you want. Store drizzled tortellini in separate container from your salad mixture until ready to toss together.

If you want, cut your vegetables and place in an airtight container, along with the olives. This will keep nicely overnight as well.

Right before time to serve the salad, mix your salad greens, vegetables, tortellini, parmesan and dressing together.

This makes a large salad. You can adjust according to the number of people you are serving. This is also a great salad to add extras like grilled chicken strips, croutons, etc...

Hope you enjoy this one!