Rainbow Pasta Salad
Summer just screams fresh veggies to me. Picnics and gatherings are a great way to spend time with others and share the load of preparing the entire meal. This Rainbow Pasta Salad is a great make a ahead dish and it certainly falls in the top choices of our foods that travel well.
This is also one of those salads that you can make it ten ways from Sunday. Toss in the fresh veggies you have on hand. It’s a great way to use up items the day before you are headed to the store.
Ingredients:
1 box Rotini Rainbow Pasta (any pasta works)
1/2 Red Onion, diced
1/2 Red Pepper, diced
1/2 Yellow Pepper, diced
1/2 Orange Pepper, diced
2 Zucchini, sliced thin
1 cup Cherry Tomatoes, halved
1 cup Black Olives, lightly diced or sliced
3 Tablespoons Capers, drained (whole small jar)
1 cup Italian Salad Dressing (more if needed – I use the 12 oz bottle)
Directions:
Cook pasta according to directions. Rinse well and set aside to cool
Dump everything else into a large bowl, stir well
Fold in pasta and toss gently to cover all pasta (easy or pasta will break up)
Cover and place in refrigerator to allow flavors to blend.
There really isn’t a set recipe to this salad. Every time we make it…it’s just a little bit different. I like that because it isn’t mayonnaise based, it doesn’t require as much refrigeration.
You can also toss in a little protein and change this salad to an entree. My crew likes this salad with a piece of grilled salmon or thinly sliced steak layered over it.
This sounds like a great summer dish. It’s a great way to use the veggies from my kitchen garden too, so I’ll be pinning this to my salad board. Please share your recipes on my Sunday’s Best Linkup.
this really looks good i would love to try it
This looks so colorful and delicious!
The pasta salad looks delicious and so colorful!
Made this over the 4th of july. The family loved it. Thank you for the recipe
I like the pasta salad because it can be made before hand and is a easy meal to carry
I love pasta any way that it is made. Thanks for sharing.
Never tried it with capers before. Sounds interesting.
I have made a salad like this before, but I’ve never thought to use capers. Thanks for the idea!
MY HUSBAND KEEPS BUYING WACKY MAC WE MUST HAVE 10 BAGS. WILL TRY THIS RECIPE ON HIM TODAY.
This looks and sounds so good! I’ll have to make this for one our get togethers coming up.
I love anything to do with pasta! This looks simple and delicious.
Yummy! I LOVE pasta salad! Thank you for sharing!
This pasta salad looks yummy,I love eating pasta salad