The Fast Trick to Turn Any Salad into Dinner

Let’s face it — a simple salad just isn’t enough for dinner. (People tend to complain.) So when you’re looking to turn those last bits of spinach, half a cucumber, and a few chopped radishes into a dinner-ready meal, here’s a trick: Reach for that bag of frozen tortellini.

This brilliant shortcut transforms the last bits of the crisper drawer into a dinner you can make for one or scale up to feed four or more. Here’s how!

Sometimes a plate of vegetables just isn’t enough to satisfy for supper, but, at the same time, you’re not quite in the mood for a carb-fest in the form of a big bowl of pasta.

This is how you have it all! Tossing cooked tortellini with the salad of your choosing makes it feel and taste hearty enough to call it dinner, yet it still maintains its form as a light, wholesome meal filled with veggies.

Just boil frozen tortellini according to package instructions, drain, and let cool slightly. Add the pasta to the salad bowl with the greens and vegetables of your choice, then toss everything with vinaigrette and grab a fork. It’s that easy!

• Radicchio Salad with Green Olives & Parmesan
• Arugula & Fennel Salad with Lemon Vinaigrette
• Spinach Salad with Warm Brown Butter Dressing
• Shaved Fennel, Roasted Tomato & Pistachio Salad with Yogurt Dressing
• Lemony Green Salad with Radicchio & Pepitas

Quick Tortellini Dinners: Keep a bag of frozen tortellini tucked away in your freezer and you can rest easy knowing that a quick meal is always at the ready. This series on fast tortellini dinners will show you how to transform frozen tortellini into dinner using pantry staples and a few surprising techniques. Pasta sauce is just the beginning!