Care to share your fav pasta salad recipe?

[OhM]

Having guests tomorrow - marinated pork loin on the grill; grilled veggies - want a yummy pasta salad to go with.

 

And easy, summery dessert ideas, too, if you have any!

 

TIA - Michelle

[OnTheBrink]

This will go perfectly:

 

1 lb tri-color rotini pasta, cooked.

1 medium zucchini, sliced, then quartered

1 head broccoli florets, in bite-sized pieces

1/2 red onion, diced

chopped black olives

red, orange or yellow bell pepper, diced.

 

1 bottle Italian salad dressing.

 

Toss pasta and veggies, pour dressing and toss all together. Chill and serve. My kdis LOVE this and in the summer, I'll add diced chicken or pepperoni to it and call it lunch.

[Margo out of lurking]

...

[Parrothead]

Mine is basically the same as SolaMichelle's. But I add chopped marinated artichoke hearts, rinsed canned kidney beans, pepperoni slices and different salad dressings depending on my moon. I've used Ceaser, Greek and Ranch.

 

You can substitute crumbled bacon for the pepperoni, and black or other beans for the kidney beans. And I've seen some pasta salads with shredded or cubed cheese.

[percytruffle]

Here's my family's favorite pasta salad recipe:

 

Greek Pasta Salad

 

1 lb box of tri-color twist pasta, cooked, drained, and cooled

1 cucumber chopped

1 small carton cherry (or grape) tomatoes halved

1/2 cup diced kalamata olives

1/2 of a small block of Feta cheese crumbled

1/2 of a red onion diced

1 cup marinated artichoke hearts

 

Toss as of the above with homemade Greek dressing:

 

1 1/2 cups olive oil

1/4 cup white vinegar

1/4 cup lemon juice

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 tsp pepper

1 T dried oregano

2 cloves garlic, minced

 

I toss all of the above into my Cuisinart and blend until smooth. Pour over pasta salad and serve.

 

I also recently had the most fabulous summery dessert at a friend's house on Memorial Day:

 

Strawberry Whipped Sensation

 

4 cups fresh strawberries

1 14oz can sweetened condensed milk

1/4 cup lemon juice

1 8oz tub cool whip, thawed (I don't usually eat this stuff, but this dessert is soooo good I made an exception)

8 oreos, crushed and mixed with 1 T melted butter

 

 

Line an 8x4 loaf pan with foil. Mash 2 cups of the berries, stir in sweetened condensed milk, juice, and 2 cups of the cool whip. Pour into pan. Top with combined cookie crumbs and melted butter. Press into mixture. Cover and freeze at least 6 hours. To serve, invert onto plate, remove foil, frost with remaining cool whip and sliced berries.

[Tammyla]

This is making me hungry....Love pasta salads... I do one similar to Michella's and add in sesame seeds, cubed mozzarella cheese and little tomatoes.

 

Desserts....Ice cream topped with fresh fruit is always delicious or set up an ice cream bar if kids will be plentiful.

[OhM]

Thanks! Everything looks so good - I think I'll do a variation of Michelle's with what's on hand.

 

That strawberry recipe looks to die for - don't have everything I need right now, but I'll definitely be trying that soon!

[Serendipity]

Here's one we love...

 

cucumber, small chopped

tomato, small chopped

cooked penne pasta

mayonnaise

dill weed

lemon pepper

 

Mix together and chill.

 

:)

[Sasharowan]

Quick and easy. Tricolor rotini, pepperoni, ham, tomatoes, shredded cheese, and sometimes onions and cucumbers. Mix with Marie's creamy Italian Garlic dressing. Yum.