Three Delicious Pasta Salad Recipes

With the heat in full swing, very few of us want to stand over a hot stove for dinner, and then sit down to a piping hot meal!  Now granted, in order to accomplish a successful pasta salad, you do have to boil the pasta.  But that is quick and you can easily chill it back down in time for a cool meal. You can mix almost anything into cooled cooked pasta and make it delicious, but here are three of my favorite basic recipes.  You can customize any of these suggestions to fit your individual dietary needs or restrictions.

• Italian – There are two delicious options for an Italian flavor. I prefer the lighter of the choices, which includes diced fresh tomatoes, diced fresh mozzarella, and pesto sauce.  If you want something more substantial to fill that hungry tummy, try diced salami with diced provolone and diced green peppers instead.

• Greek – I love Mediterranean food myself, so this is a go-to for lunch or dinner. Diced cucumbers, tomatoes, black olives, and green peppers with lots of feta and Greek dressing.  If you need a boost of protein, add cut up rotisserie chicken or even gyro meat.

• Southwestern – I can never resist the flavors of Tex-Mex. This on I fill with whole kernel corn, tomatoes, pico de gallo, black beans, shredded or diced pepper jack cheese, and my own dressing mix (the taco sauce plus ranch mixture I’ve mentioned before).  Again, feel free to cook some diced chicken in taco seasoning and throw that in.

Choose different pasta shapes to really make it fun.  I usually choose farfalle for the Greek, spiral for the Italian, and elbow macaroni for Southwestern.  These are just a few suggestions, so mix it up and make it your own concoction!