Avocado — Artichoke Pasta Salad — When the Garden Wakes Up, So Does the Kitchen

Week 258. Spring garden planted, Tom's potatoes year two, seven raised beds full

The kitchen continues its work. Every week, the stove is lit and the meals are made and the family gathers at the table — a table that now holds four people, two dogs, and the accumulated weight of six years of cooking through everything life has thrown at this family. The table holds. It always holds.

The rhythm of this life — Tom\'s morning coffee, my evening cooking, Mason\'s questions, Lily\'s horses, Hank\'s slow decline, the garden\'s steady production — is the rhythm I chose. Not the rhythm I was given. Cancer gave me a different rhythm: infusion, crash, recover, repeat. Divorce gave another: manage, endure, rebuild, repeat. But this rhythm — cook, eat, love, repeat — this one I chose. This one I built. And it plays in the kitchen every night, the same song with new verses, the same recipe with small variations, the same life getting better by degrees so small you only notice them when you look back and see how far you\'ve come.

I made food this week that reflects where I am: spring pea risotto. The food is the evidence. The food is always the evidence — of who I am, of what I\'ve survived, of the people I feed and the love I put on plates. The recipe is the record. The kitchen is the archive. And I am the cook, standing at the stove, stirring, waiting, serving, and beginning again tomorrow.

Spring pea risotto has been turning over in my mind for weeks — something slow and stirred and green, something that tastes the way the garden looks right now. But this week, with seven beds planted and Tom’s potatoes in the ground and the whole yard humming with possibility, I wanted something that matched that energy: quick, bright, alive. This Avocado & Artichoke Pasta Salad was exactly that — the kind of dish that comes together fast but tastes like you spent the whole afternoon in the kitchen, like spring itself showed up on the plate.

Avocado & Artichoke Pasta Salad

Prep Time: 15 min | Cook Time: 10 min | Total Time: 25 min | Servings: 6

Ingredients

• 12 oz rotini or penne pasta
• 1 can (14 oz) artichoke hearts, drained and quartered
• 2 ripe avocados, diced
• 1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
• 1/2 cup red onion, thinly sliced
• 1/3 cup pitted Kalamata olives, halved
• 1/4 cup fresh basil leaves, torn
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
• 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 1/4 cup crumbled feta cheese (optional)

Instructions

1. Cook the pasta. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Cook pasta according to package directions until al dente. Drain, rinse under cold water to stop cooking, and set aside to cool completely.
2. Make the dressing. In a small bowl, whisk together olive oil, red wine vinegar, lemon juice, Dijon mustard, garlic, salt, and pepper until emulsified. Taste and adjust seasoning as needed.
3. Combine the salad. In a large bowl, toss together the cooled pasta, artichoke hearts, cherry tomatoes, red onion, and olives. Drizzle with dressing and toss gently to coat.
4. Add the avocado. Fold in the diced avocado carefully so the pieces stay intact. Add the torn basil and toss once more, lightly.
5. Finish and serve. Transfer to a serving bowl or platter. Top with crumbled feta if using. Serve immediately, or refrigerate for up to 1 hour (add avocado just before serving if making ahead).

Nutrition (per serving)

Calories: 390 | Protein: 9g | Fat: 17g | Carbs: 51g | Fiber: 6g | Sodium: 420mg