Pasta Salad

I stole this idea from my cousin’s wife. She made this for a family picnic once and Hubby loved it. The best part is that you don’t spend a ton of money on all the ingredients and it’s made in the time it takes pasta to cook. I also like that you can make it a day ahead of time (it’s even better if you do).

Our local grocery store has a salad bar in the prepared foods section. Just like any salad bar, you pick just what you want. They change by weight so for this salad I spent $4. and change on all the goodies. (Can you imagine what it would cost if I bought all of the ingredients separately????). I get the stuff here that I only need a little bit of like purple cabbage. Who uses the whole head???? I used all this stuff and half the box of pasta. I feed three adults and three kids and I have a bunch left over. (I love that part!)

I try to get as many different items as I can and a good variety of color. This time the recipe included…

Peas
Mushrooms
Purple cabbage
Ham
Turkey
Grape Tomatoes
Artichokes
Broccoli

From home I also added…
Chickpeas
Black Olives
Shredded Cheddar Cheese

You can put in whatever you like. The more ingredients the better. (Remember to add lots of color.

Chop your ingredients while the pasta is cooking. (You can use any pasta you like.)
I try to cut things to a similar size. It mixes better, looks prettier and is easier to eat. Once the pasta is done, run some cold water over it and drain it well. Mix everything together and dump at least half the bottle of salad dressing over it. (We like Ken’s Italian dressing for this recipe). Salt and pepper to taste.



If you make it a day ahead, give it a good stir and maybe add a little more dressing just before you serve.

Enjoy!!!

What’s you easy fast recipe?????