I’ve eaten at the Colombia Restaurant just once and was most impressed by the simplicity and the goodness of their signature salad with their 1905 salad dressing. But I can’t eat lettuce, so I looked for a way to make this a robust salad without it. Enter pasta…or quinoa or even rice for a Northern Italian-style dish.
Here’s what I used for the “salad”:
- 1 box of orzo pasta, prepared according to package instructions (GF: use any small piece gluten free pasta; GF & CF: use quinoa)
- 3 standard cucumbers, seeds removed, quartered lengthwise, chopped
- 6 roma tomatoes, sliced in rings
- 1 cup green Spanish olives stuffed with pimentos, whole or sliced (I like whole)
- 8 slices of swiss cheese, cut into 1/2-inch squares (or julienned if that’s easier)
- 1 package of diced prociutto (4 oz)
- 1 package of julienned Citterio ham (4 oz)
- 1/2 cup pepperoncini rings (optional)
For the dressing, which is based on the Colombia Restaurant 1905 dressing:
- 1 cup good oil (EVOO)
- 1 cup ACV
- 1/4 Worcestershire sauce
- 4-6 cloves of garlic, minced finely
- 1t dried oregano
- 1t black pepper
- 1/2 t salt
Whisk up the dressing and let it sit out on the counter to marinate for several hours before you dress the pasta salad.
Dress and serve at is or over a pile of lettuce to make it more “salad-y.”
