Super Simple Pasta Salad

To kick off Pasta Salad Week, I thought I’d start with my family’s favorite basic pasta salad. This is one of those salads that is simple enough you can quickly throw together while the burgers grill, yet it’s impressive enough to take to a potluck. The vinaigrette dressing keeps the salad tasting light enough to pare with your favorite summer staples. Alter the veggies to fit your taste (or whatever is in season), add cooked chicken, steak, or tuna to make it a main dish, or serve as a light lunch.

Simple Pasta Salad

Author/Source:

Pam @ Onceamonthmom.com

Ingredients:

• 1 lb. pasta (shells, rotini, penne, bowties, etc.)
• 1 can olives, sliced
• 1 pint grape or cherry tomatoes (diced tomatoes work well too)
• 1 cup frozen peas (do not thaw)
• 1 cup cheese (any kind), shredded or cut into chunks
• 12-16 oz. Italian dressing
• other add-in ideas: chopped onion, chopped cucumber, chopped carrots, chopped celery, broccoli or cauliflower florets, etc.

Directions:

Cook pasta according to package directions in salted boiling water. Drain and rinse with cold water. Add other ingredients, dressing last. Add enough dressing to fit your taste. Chill until serving.

Freezing Directions:

Cook pasta as indicated above. In a gallon freezer bag place, pasta, olives, tomatoes (can be left out until serving day if desired), peas, cheese and any other suggested add-ins. In a pint freezer bag, place dressing. Put pint freezer bag inside gallon freezer bag and seal. To serve: Thaw all bags and mix together before serving.

Servings: 6-8

This Post will be linked at:

• Mouthwatering Mondays at A Southern Fairytale
• Monday Mania at The Healthy Home Economist (Real Food)
• Just Another Meatless Monday at Hey What’s For Dinner Mom? (Vegetarian)

**And if you haven’t gotten your copy of the Survive Before 5: Toddler Meals for Your Busy Days eCookbook, be sure to get your copy now. It is on sale through July 1st for just $5.99 with the code OAMM599.

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This entry was posted on Monday, June 27th, 2011 at 2:00 pm and is filed under Recipes. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.