Mediterranean Pasta Salad and Winnebagos

I never thought I'd say this - but I don't want to see creamy/heavy/fatty food ever again. I mean it this time! After Super Bowl parties and random trips for hospital food, I need to eat clean.

I decided to start with this pasta salad, a variation of one I saw on Ree Drummond's website. Normally I'd just skip the pasta and sub out all beans, but I found some super cute ridgy pasta pieces at Trader Joe's and I thought they'd be a fun addition. Ree uses orzo, but I find this type of pasta can get sticky if you overcook it for even a few seconds.

What You Need:

Grape tomatoes, baby tomatoes, heirloom tomatoes...just get some tomatoes and slice them in half
1/2 can garbanzo, pinto, or black beans (rinse them so they aren't mushy)
1/2 cup cubed feta
4 scallions, sliced
1 Tbs jalapeno finely chopped with seeds and veins removed
1 cup cooked tiny pasta (I used the Rigati from Delallo)
1/2 cup black or kalamata olives
salt and pepper to taste

(mix all these together and toss with the dressing - recipe below)

For the Dressing:

3 Tbs olive oil
Juice of 1 lemon
6 sprigs thyme, chopped finely

(put these ingredients in a glass jar and shake shake shake until emulsified)

I'm also recommending a good heist movie while you daintily chow down on your delicious salad. May I suggest "Sneakers" with the hottie Robert Redford? If you're into some good old fashioned hacking, this is the film to watch - it's taken me two hours to write this post because I keep getting caught up in his shenanigans. Although I have to say, I think I love his co-conspirators more than Robbie. Especially Crease. That fella is bada**