Foodie Friday- Pasta Salad

This is another one of my "trying to put structure in my blog" attempts. For "Foodie Fridays," I'll be featuring a recipe that I have personally made and love! One of my favorite things is to try out a new recipe, and I'll be passing on my favorites to you! This week it's pasta salad.

I know it's fall, but here we are still clinging to the last few moments of summer over here. This week has been so gorgeous (mid seventies, light breeze, not a cloud in the sky!) so I celebrated with a light and delicious dinner yesterday. A very simple pasta salad. Seriously, it's so simple and requires almost no cooking.

Ingredients:

• 4-5 cups of your favorite raw veggies (cut up)
• 1 lb box pasta (I always use rotini, but shells, macaroni, penne and ziti would work nicely. Longer pastas like spaghetti and linguine don't work well here)
• 8 oz of your favorite meat (I use pepperoni, but leftover chicken or steak, deli ham, salami, anything works!)
• 1 bottle of italian/vinaigrette dressing

Directions:

1. Start a large pot of water boiling, salting the water liberally. When it reaches a rolling boil, add pasta and cook according to package directions.
2. While pasta is cooking, cut up all your veggies into bite sized pieces. I use a mix of tomatoes, carrots, cucumber, celery, olives, cauliflower, broccoli, those kinds of things. Cut up meat (if needed.)
3. When pasta is cooked, drain and rinse with cold water.
4. Toss pasta and veggies and meat together with the bottle of dressing.
5. Chill at least two hours before serving. 

Lots and lots and lots of veggies!

It is soooo yummy. It makes a great side dish at a picnic but we usually eat it as the main course. :) The best part is that it's totally customizable to your family's tastes and it's still always delicious!

Happy cooking! And happy Friday!