It’s time for another edition of “In Purrsuit of Flavours” where Blogville shares its favorite recipes. This month, the category is salad. Please join our hosts The Canadian Cats and Da Phenny and check out just what’s cooking around Blogville.
Like a lot of peeps, I prefer eating lighter when temperature rise and lately it’s been hot, hot, hot around the Ranch. Last thing I want to do is to cook over a hot stove. When something is tasty, quick and easy to fix, well count me happy. Here’s my take on Italian pasta salad.
Ingredients
- 1 package of tri-color rotini pasta (or whatever kind of pasta you have on hand)
- 1/2 to a whole cucumber, chopped
- 1 cup cherry or grape tomatoes cut in half
- Thinly sliced strips of red and green pepper (I didn’t have green and used yellow)
- 1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese
- Sliced black olives, drained
- 1/4 cup finely diced red onion
- Garbanzo beans (can be optional-I used about a third to a half a can)
- 1/2 – 1 cup Italian salad dressing (or to taste-I tend to use less dressing, only coating the ingredients-there’s no need for salad to swim in dressing unless you like it that way)
- If you’re a meat-eater, feel free to add Genoa salami or pepperoni
Instructions
-
Cook pasta according to directions. When done, drain and rinse with cold water so the noodles can cool.
-
Combine veggies (and meat is that’s your jam), then add dressing over top and mix together.
-
Can be eaten right away or refrigerated for a few hours before serving.
This recipe is highly adaptable-so feel free to substitute your preferences (i.e. artichokes, etc.) or whatever you may have on hand. Served with bread topped with melted Parmesan with a nice red and it makes for the perfect summer meal. Salud the salad!
Live, love, bark! 🐾
This is one of my favorite salads!! I am with you on a nice salad on a hot day!! 💕
This is an especially good one when it’s so toasty.
Yes it is! And easy to make. 💕
The best kind!
I love pasta salad and it is the one type I miss eating keto. I need to learn to make a different keto friendly pasta. LOL!
My daughter eats keto too; I’ll ask her if she has a recipe for one. She’s gotta pretty good with substituting things that work. 🤞🏼
OMG…that is the pasta salad I’ve been hoping for…this salad is a must
Thanks my friends.
Jean
Yay…glad to hear that! Enjoy.
Now that’s the way we like it..♪♫♪aha aha♪♫♪…Delicious😺Pawkisses for a Happy Weekend🐾😽💞
That’s the way…a-huh, a-huh…I like it, too. ♪♫♪
A refreshing summer salad.
It sure is. Refreshing and easy!
MMMM that sure lookss tasty Miss Monika!!!
**purrss** BellaDharma an {{huggiess}} LadyMew too!
It is tasty, quick and healthy.
Xcellent….now to get LadyMew to make it 😉
I know she can whip it up in no time. 😉
Mee thinkss so too Miss Monika…no peeperss tho’; LadyMew iss ‘llergick; butt she can use green onnyonss or even sun zoo-keeni!! 😉
I’m in trouble. I can’t find my favorite veggie “meat”balls anywhere.
Probably next to or behind the sunflower seeds. 😉
Ooooh, that sounds SO good!
It would be a great dish for watching the sun set over the mountains. 🌞
That smells and look awesome.
😄
That looks divine! I love pasta salads of this type. Mmm mmm mmm!
And I love the ease in throwing something like this together. Plus it’s pretty darn tasty to boot.
Absolutely! In the summer, it’s ease and light all the way.
And the wine is like a cherry on top. 🍷
The wine is a side that should always take part. Unless beer is more appropriate, if course.
I like the way you think, culinarily speaking. 😉
Of course you do… We are of like mind… Sometimes the “side” calls for a cocktail, too 😉
Indeed it does. There have been a lot of ‘sides,’ lately.
Let’s face it, we need something to get through… And let’s be honest, sometimes the sides are the small bites to go with the liquid meal 🤣
Very small many days.
I feel ya, Sistah!
Looks so yummy!
Thanks, it was a tasty meal.
It’s a bit on the cool to cold side here but I like to try different salads, particularly one that goes with a good Shiraz. Count me in :o)
Luckily this salad ain’t half bad when it’s on the cooler side. Especially when paired with a nice Shiraz. 🍷
I love pasta salad. I add shredded cheese in mine, too.
Yum, I’ll have to try that next time. Everything seems better with cheese on top.
Or in it or under it or around it, LOL. The dogs agree.
You can never have too much cheese by my way of thinking.
I love this recipe, easy to make, if you don’t have something in the recipe, use something else. We call those beans kikherne.
Kiitos reseptistä.
They’re my favorite kind!
We have a similar variation of that here in Doodleville! It’s great for several days in my book – Enjoy! Thanks for sharing 🙂
And it seems to get better as it marinates. 😊
Wow…what a wonderful summer recipe!!
xoxo,
Rosy, Jakey & Arty
We’re all about lite eating when it gets hot. This is a perfect solution and sooo easy to fix.
The perfect summer dish, I love it Monika.
It satisfies the easy, tasty and cooling boxes for me ✅✅✅
I love it when that happens
Absolutely. For me, cooking in the summer is utilitarian. Except when it tastes as good as this dish does. 😛
Amen sistah
I love pasta salad and this looks great. Thanks, Monika.
Perfect for those hot humid days in Austin.
So true. We are looking at 100 degrees next week.
We’ll be approaching triple digits soon too. Ugh 🥵
Ugh is right.
Yummy. We eat a lot of meat free meals too and especially in the summer.
Have a fabulous day. ♥
This a nice light meal on those hot summer days.
Oh yes! Makes me feel relaxed just reading the recipe!
Its a good dish to sit out under a shaded pergola with a nice beverage. Bon appetit!
I have a sort of pergola, a sort of Empire State Building of a pergola, built by Danilo to house an invasive but beautiful climber…..you could put another house on top of it it is so sturdy!
Be still my beating heart! Love those structures.
Anything that starts with pasta is a thumbs/paws up in our book!
Love and licks,
Cupcake
And when you add veggies…perfection.
A very nice side dish to a thick juicy hamburger! 👿
It is indeed. Also works with veggie burgers and portobello mushroom sandwiches ☺️
This looks soooooooo yummy and we will be giving this a try!
Thanks. It’s quick and easy for summertime.
Oh that really would hit the spot right about now…..just finished mowing the lawn…..that salad, a glass of wine and a cool spot in the yard and I’d almost be in heaven……..almost!
Hugs, Pam
Here’s to finishing chores, a good meal and finding a cool spot!
My “cool spot” is even too warm today – not a bit of a breeze and even in the shade it’s STUFFY. Oh well – iced tea in the living room is pretty nice too! 🙂
Put your feet up and stay cool while enjoying the tea and ‘shade.’
that looks like sitting in a street cafe in venice and enjoying summer and the fresh breeze from the sea!!! love it… it makes summer to a mediterranean summer ;O)
Thinking like that makes it taste even better!