Pasta Salad

One of my favorite recipes is to take a 1 lb. box of pasta--I prefer bow-ties for this. Cook it, rinse it. Add to it six to eight chopped up sundried tomatoes (if they are in oil, just chop them up, if they are dried, soak them in hot water until they reconstitute, then chop) or more if you want. Add several (at least four or five) chopped basil leaves. Add a package of crumbled feta cheese. Then add a cup or so of Balsamic Vinaigrette salad dressing. Let it sit in the fridge for at least an hour--you may need to add more dressing when it comes out b/c it all soaks in. This stuff is super yummy! Sometimes in summer, I substitute fresh home-grown tomatoes for the sun dried ones.

Hi R.,
Everyone I know makes it differently. Even I put different veggies in sometimes. But basically, I prepare the multicolored spiral pasta, rinse it in cold water, and mix in chopped up green pepper, halved cherry tomatoes, a tiny bit of chopped onion, and some sliced black olives. Then I pour about a cup (not sure) of italian dressing over it and mix well. Then I cover it and chill it in the refrigerator. It tastes better after sitting in the fridge a while. Hope this helps! Happy Easter!

R.

I make a really good pasta salad that everyone always loves. You can use any kind of pasta, and put in all types of veggies. I use green pepper , halved cherry tomatoes, cucumber, radishes (sometimes) really anything you want and just take a bottle of ranch dressing and mix it all together. it is very yummy!!

That is funny I am makeing the pasta salad for our Sunday Dinner too ! I just get the different colored pasta boil it add all kinds of veggies, pepperoni ,cheese and Italian dressing . Some people add olives and ham also it really depends on your taste preference .If you add cucumbers they will get squishy by the next day if you save your left overs .

I make some that way, too. It's yummy.

I also make one with mayo, veggies, and cheese. Frozen peas are a big favorite of mine to make sure are added.

If you go to http://www.allrecipes.com you can get some great ideas.

It's a nice dish that can be easily turned into a meal with the addition of some tuna or chicken as well. So you can make some for the outing and make extra and not have to cook the next day, especially nice now that spring is here.

hey R.,

The way my family always makes pasta salad is wthi rotini noodles, tomatoes, cucumbers, green peppers, cheese cubes, black olives, and italian salad dressing. hope that helps.
good luck
D.