Pasta Salad Recipe Anyone?

[hammondtam]

My family is coming in to visit from out of town and we are having a big BBQ on Sunday, and my mom wants to make sure I have something to eat other than hamburgers!!! So I was wondering if anyone had a good pasta salad recipe, I am going to use probably rice penne pasta or rice spiral pasta.....

Any recommendations!!

Thank You!

[missy'smom]

Use the Parmesan Italian Vinagrette from this thread.

Open Original Shared Link

Add pasta, halved cherry tomatoes, sliced and quartered English(thin skinned) cucumber, Kalamata olives(I prefer the ones packed in vinegar), chopped yellow pepper and crumbled ricotta slata or feta chesse

[Juliebove]

One that I've made that is always a big hit seems somewhat similar to the one already posted.

Start with a pkg of largish shaped pasta. Cook till al dente, then rinse in cold water and cool. You will need a very big bowl for this because it makes a ton. Gently mix in the following:

1-2 cartons grape or cherry tomatoes

Bell peppers, assorted colors, cut in strips

Several stalks of celery, cut in thick slices

Several carrots, sliced, or mini peeled carrots

1-2 bunches green onions, sliced

1 bunch radishes, sliced

1 bunch fresh parsley, chopped (reserve a few pieces for garnish)

1 can large black olives

1 small jar large green olives, pimento stuffed

1 pkg. dry (hard) salami slices, cut in strips

8 oz or more Swiss Cheese, cut in cubes

The original recipe called for a large bottle of Wish Bone Italian dressing. I do not know if this brand is gluten free or not and if I recall correctly they changed the formula so it doesn't taste as good as it once did. So use any Italian dressing that you like. It's a very forgiving recipe. You can leave out whatever ingredients you don't like and you can add pretty much anything like cauliflower or broccoli. The only problem I've had is trying to cut back on the amount of it. Because I like all the colors of the various foods, I keep adding and adding and soon my bowl is overflowing. And I can't do the cheese these days because I know of my dairy allergy. But it's still good even without it.

[wethree]

Paul Newman's Own Raspberry Walnut dressing is really good and gluten-free. We like using that for a pasta salad. I take that along when I go to restaurants to use on my salads, too. AND, he donates all of the profits from all of his products to charity.

[Michi8]

This is my absolute favourite pasta salad. It's a whole meal in itself...and is vegetarian. It's from Canadian Living's Best One Dish Meals cookbook. It says it makes 4 servings, but that is if it's served as the only dish in a meal. As a side, it goes much further. Michelle

Make-Ahead Penne Salad

2 cups penne

1/2 cup snow peas

1/3 cup mayonnaise-style salad dressing

2 tbsp tomato juice

1 tbsp white wine vinegar

1 1/2 tsp Dijon mustard

1/4 tsp each salt & pepper

1/4 cup chopped fresh chives

1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley

2 tbsp fresh dill

1 cup drained canned chick-peas

1/2 cup sliced celery

1 each sweet red pepper and green pepper cut into strips

In large pot of boiling salted water, cook penne for 8 to 10 minutes or until tender but firm. Drain and refresh under cold water; drain well.

Meanwhile, trim snow peas; blanch in small pot of boiling water for 1 minute. Drain and refresh under cold water; drain again.

In large bowl, whisk together salad dressing, tomato juice, vinegar, mustard, salt & pepper; mix in chives, parsley and dill. Add penne, snow peas, chick-peas, celery and red & green pepper; toss to coat well. (Salad can be covered and refrigerated for up to 1 day.) Makes 4 servings.