Recipe of the Day: Sun-Dried Tomato and Feta Pasta Salad

**This is a non-beauty related post so feel free to skip it if you'd like**

Have I told you all that I'm attempting to lose 10 pounds for the wedding?  Yes, well, you all know now I guess.  Weight is important to everyone but for some reason it's a topic I'm very aware of. 

I grew up in a family that ate extremely healthy all the time and because I danced almost 7 days a week, I was in very good shape.  However, when I quit smoking almost 4 years ago, I gained weight instantly.  It felt like I went to bed one size and woke up the next morning a completely different size.  It was a hard adjustment and it's been very difficult to shed the weight I gained at that point.  However, I've been eating well, exercising and am very proud to say that my wedding dress is already a size too big!

I have been making a lot of fantastic salads for work lately and wanted to share one of my newest faves.  So, here's the recipe.

Sun-Dried Tomato and Feta Pasta Salad

1 lb. whole wheat fusili or rotini pasta (I used fusili but think it would be better with rotini)

1 cup walnuts, toasted (my walnuts were not toasted and it still tasted great)

1 cup feta cheese, crumbled

1/2 cup sun-dried tomatoes, chopped

3/4 cup red onion, diced

 3 cups baby spinach, torn

1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil 

1/2 cup red wine vinegar

4 cloves of garlic 

2 tsp dijon mustard 

salt and pepper

Step 1: Cook pasta according to box directions, drain well and rinse in cold water.  Put cooling pasta aside.

Step 2: Mix together the oil, vinegar, mustard and garlic.

Step 3: In a very large bowl, mix together spinach, feta cheese, sun-dried tomato, onion and walnuts.

Step 4: Once pasta is cool, mix pasta, greens and dressing together.

Step 5: ENJOY!!

The hardest part of this recipe is sticking to a normal portion size.  Happy eating ladies and let me know how the recipe turns out for you!