Spring is here? Can you believe it? I can’t either because I have to admit that while Spring is officially here, the weather here isn’t playing nice and cooperating. We recently had a snowfall and I was not too happy about that. I know with the New Year, a lot of us made a few resolutions or goals if you prefer. One of them for me was to start eating a little bit healthier. While I generally eat healthy, I don’t eat as much as I would like and I have to admit that I don’t do the 3 balanced meals for myself. I do however encourage my kids do. I have to learn to do it myself. Right now it’s a case of “Do As I Say, Not What I Do”. Today I want to share with you a simple but very satisfying Italian Pasta Salad. If you’re trying eat something light for lunch or even dinner, then this is the perfect meal for you.
Here is what you’ll need:
Ingredients:
1 box of tri-color rotini noodles
1 16 oz container of Italian salad dressing, any brand
1 head of broccoli
2 medium tomotoes, diced
1 8 oz jar of green olives, sliced (you could also substitute black olives if you wish)
Salt & pepper to taste
Directions:
Bring 6 cups of water to a rolling boil. Add in the entire box of tri-color rotini. Allow to continue boiling and cook the pasta about 11-12 minutes (check the back of your pasta box to double check their al dente cook time)
While the pasta is cooking, dice up your veggies and slice up your olives.
Remove the pasta from the stove and rinse under cold water.
Pour the cook pasta into a large bowl and add in the diced veggies and olives.
Pour in about 8 oz of the Italian dressing to start, gently mixing the pasta salad. At this point, adding more dressing is all about taste in my opinion. I like a lot of dressing so I usually add almost the entire 16 oz bottle. Go by taste.
Serves approximately 16-20 people; this is a large batch and great for summer parties! Can you believe I’m already talking Summer and Spring is still trying to arrive? Well there’s still hope.
Serve and Enjoy!