Anyonje else here insane over pasta salad?

I'd been in the mood for pasta salad as soon as the weather warmed up.
Today we went and got the goods for making it.
Now, before I shock you all, you should know that when I make pasta salad, I make enough for an army, I love it that much.

We spent $115 at the grocery store today, and 99% of what we bought was for the salad to be.

I decided on spiral and bowtie for my pasta, a pound of each.
A beautiful red onion, some olives, some mushrooms, marbled cheddar/jack cheese, a half pound of hard genoa salami and a half pound of pepperoni.

I could not decide on the dressing, so I bought a huge bottle of zesty Italian, a huge bottle of creamy Italian and a huge bottle of Ceasar, as well as dry dressing mix packets for added kick.

I'll probably spend Tuesday (yup, pretty much all day) making my salad, anyone wanna come over for some?

Tomorrow I've got some lovely fresh veggies (red bell pepper, yellow squash and red and yellow onions, and fresh garden mushrooms) as well as some sirloin, waiting to be made into roasted garlic teriyaki kebobs.

I truly prefer summer foods to any others, anyone else prefer certain seasonal fare?

oh that sounds sooooooooooooooo yummy!!!! i LOVE pasta salad

Let me tell you about my current favorite pasta salad. I use Bertolli "fresh" cheese filled tortolini noodles, bi-color (plain and spinach). I then add red onion sliced paper thin, cherry tomatoes sliced in half, sliced jumbo black olives, cut up marinated artichoke hearts (add the juice). Toss with your favorite dressing, I use Italian made with balsamic vinegar by Ken's Steak House. It's scrumpdelliicious!

Ummmm, I know how to get to Salt Lake, where do I turn from there? Sounds delicious!

Originally Posted by PookieBoy

Let me tell you about my current favorite pasta salad. I use Bertolli "fresh" cheese filled tortolini noodles, bi-color (plain and spinach). I then add red onion sliced paper thin, cherry tomatoes sliced in half, sliced jumbo black olives, cut up marinated artichoke hearts (add the juice). Toss with your favorite dressing, I use Italian made with balsamic vinegar by Ken's Steak House. It's scrumpdelliicious!

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You're killing me! Sounds so yummy! I've never made a pasta salad other than the box type from betty crocker Was always afraid I'd mess it up. Looks like I'll have to try it and take the chance.

OMG that sounds so yummy! You know Utah isn't very far from where I live. I live in Montana. I would love to come to your house and indulge in that salad, although I am not a big fan of pasta.. I would LOVE to try your salad especially if it has salami and pepperoni in it. and cheese of course hehe. and for summer foods I love hot dogs, hamburgers, watermelon,
fresh salads, anything cool really.. and love any BBQ'd food! oh yeah AND cherries!

Your pasta salad sounds so good!

I love summer foods the best, too, because of the ripe cherries and blueberries the most. And I love the veggies from the garden - butter lettuce, red leaf, and crisp romaine, and fresh artichokes, broccoli, fresh garlic (fantastic in meat marinades with fresh herbs for BBQs), sugar peas, snap peas, zuchinni... everything is fresh and ripe, mmmm...

OMG! That sounds sooooo yummy!!!

I will come take some of that for ya.......

I love pasta salad! I make it for all our events, all year round!

Typically I use the wider spiral type noodle (can't think of the name, not the actual spiral) and I add tomatoes, cucumber, cheddar cheese cubes or even just shredded cheese, maybe olives, pepperoni, green olives and just whatever else I feel like. Oh I also have used ham before! I make my own dressing with cider vinegar usually. I use betty crocker's Italian salad dressing recipe. I'm not a big fan of traditional bottled 'zesty Italian' dressings. I prefer more of a vinegarette. I also make a good cucumber salad during the summer that I haven't made in a while.... I'm going grocery shopping in a bit myself! Must make some of these things!

Sounds very good! I love pasta salad, but don't follow any particular recipe - I just dump in whatever I find fresh from the garden or greenhouse (hubby loves gardening). I made one this week with tomato and spinach pasta, onion, peas, parsnips, broccoli and cauliflower, and the first cucumbers and tomatoes, with bought Italian dressing.

I made so much it lasted three days!

Well thanks to this thread, I went out and got ingredients for pasta salad, tuna-pasta salad, and cucumber salad. I shall be quite salad satisified this week! But I doubt very much that I'll be 'saladed out'! Oooh! I haven't made egg salad in a while either....maybe I better hold off on that one till next week!

Know exactly what you mean. I made a big batch of pasta salad myself today as well. I make the traditional pasta salad with tuna and onions, but add a bit of a tropical twist by adding pineapple, as well as pickles and corn to it. It is so yummy. That with a nice BBQ Potato Salad, and some Crispy Chicken breasts made for a wonderful dinner...

Originally Posted by tierre0

Know exactly what you mean. I made a big batch of pasta salad myself today as well. I make the traditional pasta salad with tuna and onions, but add a bit of a tropical twist by adding pineapple, as well as pickles and corn to it. It is so yummy. That with a nice BBQ Potato Salad, and some Crispy Chicken breasts made for a wonderful dinner...

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BBQ potato salad? Is that with a BBQ sauce? If so, that sounds good!

I do that too! I make a whoooolllle bunch and eat it for a week. It keeps better than those leftovers you have to heat up.

But yes, I'm crazy for pasta salad and would love to come over

Just an idea to make pasta salad a bit healthier-try the whole wheat pasta instead-it cooks up the same and I have been eating for several months now in all sorts of dishes and cannot tell the difference.

I'm not a huge fan of wheat pasta. I think it depends on the brand, but I've had some that feel gritty. Is it maybe not cooked enough? I know my mother mixes wheat and 'regular' pasta and in that I've not noticed it. That's why I've wondered about it being cooked enough?

Originally Posted by Bonnie1965

You're killing me! Sounds so yummy! I've never made a pasta salad other than the box type from betty crocker

Was always afraid I'd mess it up. Looks like I'll have to try it and take the chance.

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Bonnie, I never even saw a pasta salad form Betty Crocker at my grocery (nothin' wrong with Betty Crocker IMO!). I'm curious, what does she suggest you use for her salad?

Truthfully, it's pretty hard to mess up a pasta salad made with regular noodles and fresh veggie ingredients and a nice Italian dressing IMO. The fun is in the experimenting. I'm gonna try adding peperoni or salami to mine, just to add some "kick" to the salad.

I'm not exactly a cook by most other peoples standards and I absulutely LOVE my tortolini salad!

Don't be shy...............give it a shot! Good Luck!!

Aw thank you Here is a link to it:
http://www.bettycrocker.com/Products/Suddenly-Salad/
They have it on sale for $.99 often.

Kinda like Tuna Helper but with no tuna I will get adventuous. With limited funds for food I hate to make something that tastes awful I had a friend who made a great little macaroni salad with some type of mayo stuff, green onions, celery and some other things. I loved that

Your salad sounds great! I love pasta salad too