Easy Summer Vege Pasta Salad

Helloooooooo. Whew. What a crazy busy couple of weeks!  We were helping prepare and then celebrating Auntie's wedding for the past 2 weeks.  I used some of my recipes and cooked for the fam while there.  But, I am sorry to leave you hanging.  Thank you to the faithful that keep checking.  Here are some new recipes! So, needless to say, with this weather and trying to get back on a schedule this week, I've been making quick and easy, light and refreshing suppers. Doesn't it look all fresh and delicious!? It was! Easy Summer Vege Pasta Salad My recipe creation - adapted from a recipe we made growing up Salad: Half a box of rotini pasta, cooked 1 pint cherry tomatoes, halved 3/4 to a whole english cucumber, diced (the really long ones - it might say seedless too) Dressing: olive oil juice of 1 lemon red pepper flakes - to taste dash of dried oregano - to taste 1 teaspoon minced garlic (I buy mine in a jar - I'd say it'd be about 1-2 cloves chopped) Dash salt and pepper, to taste Optional Toppings: Cooked chicken, shredded or diced Balsamic vinaigrette  Parmesan cheese Olives, sliced Feta cheese Any fresh summer vegetables blanched- squash, zucchini, carrots Fresh baby spinach Directions: Bring water to a boil and cook the rotini pasta.  I have tried other pastas besides rotini, but I like the rotini the best because the sauce collects in all of the little curls.  Mmmm.  Meanwhile, combine all of the ingredients for the dressing, except for the olive oil.  You can add as much or as little seasonings as you would like.  I had a juicy lemon and got almost a 1/4 cup of lemon juice out of it! To complete the dressing: While whisking, slowly drizzle in olive oil until the mixture has emulsified (see the picture above - it'll look like this, promise).  So, I never measured how much olive oil I used, because it depends on how much lemon juice you have.  And feel free to make more or less dressing as your taste desires. Once the dressing is complete, prep your vegetables.  My grocery store didn't have any good looking cherry tomatoes, so I grabbed a variety pack of "premium tomatoes".  Haha -it just had some yellow, orange, and some deep red/purplish tomatoes - along with some cherry tomatoes too.  I couldn't tell much difference taste-wise, but liked the way it made the salad look!   I happened to have a particularly HUGE english cucumber, so I just used 3/4 of it.  I usually try to have the same amount of tomatoes and cucumbers.  Now, if DH would like olives, I would have most certainly tossed in some sliced black olives and feta cheese at this point... but I didn't :) Drain the pasta.  I run it under cold water to cool down the noodles.  Mix the pasta with the vegetables.  Pour in the dressing.  Toss and serve.    I made this pasta about 2 hours before I served it so I could refrigerate it because I like the flavors better when it's cold.  But you can certainly serve it right after you make it. I served mine with some cooked rotisserie chicken from the deli.  I love those things.  They're soooo time and user friendly!  To serve, I scooped out some of the pasta, topped with shredded chicken, a drizzle of balsamic vinaigrette, and a sprinkle of parmesan cheese. (Sorry, I forgot to take a picture... we were hungry!) YUM!  Great for a mid-70 degree day!  Quick, easy, and no hot oven required! The Verdict: The original recipe calls for a bottle of Italian Dressing (for a whole box of noodles).  This time, I was looking for a more sodium-friendly option.  I think it's a little tastier with the Italian Dressing, but it was certainly more heart healthy with the dressing I made.  That's one of the reasons why I drizzled it with the balsamic vinaigrette to serve.  The noodles were a little dry.  But, then again, I'm used to them soaking in the Italian Dressing.  Overall, this was a great alternative to the bottled dressing and one that I will happily make the switch to! I love this recipe because, like most of my recipes, it is very customizable! (See optional toppings above.)  I usually add the chicken in while tossing, but I wasn't sure if I'd like the new dressing and didn't want to mess up the chicken.  It ended up being delicious and we were happy with the way that it came out.  It was nice to see the chicken on top because you were assured you were getting a good ratio of chicken to pasta to veges. The next time it's hot outside - try this easy peasy recipe on for size! Happy Spring to you, dear readers!