Whooodoggies! It is amazingliy hot outside! Temperatures have been soaring 105 to 108 and it is just too hot to do a lot of cooking. This pasta salad is great and you can use it as a side dish or make it a meal by adding tuna, cubed ham, crab meat, or whatever you chose.
The recipe below is out of my head so the measurements are approximations, adjustments may be necessary for taste.
Ingredients:
1 box Rotini Pasta (1 lb.)
1 Medium Green Bell Pepper (Chopped)
10 to 12 Grape Tomatoes (quartered)
1 Medium Cucumber (Chopped)
4 to 5 Green Onions (Chopped)
1 tsp Black Pepper (or to taste)
1 tsp Salt (or to taste)
1/4 cup sugar (or to taste)
1 to 1 1/2 cups of Balsamic & Basil Vinaigrette Dressing
2 cups of Mayonnaise
Directions:
Cook pasta according to directions. While pasta is cooking dice vegetables and set to the side. In a medium size bowl combine sugar, dressing, and mayonnaise and whisk until smooth. When pasta is finished cooking drain and rinse under cold water. Pour into a large bowl and add vegetables, salt and pepper. Add the dressing tossing to coat the pasta. Place in refrigerator to chill and serve.
This was served with Chicken Caesar Salad and Bread Sticks. Since it was so hot and I was trying to cut down on the heat in the kitchen, this time I used a bagged Caesar Salad and grilled my chicken on the George Foreman Grill seasoned with just a little salt and pepper. If you would like to make a Fresh Chicken Caesar Salad from scratch here is a great recipe posted previously.
