Summer Pasta Salad “Recipe”

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Pasta salads are perfect for summertime and this one is really simple, but delicious. The ingredients are very Italian-inspired so that’s what you can expect from the flavor profile.

I understand why pasta salad dishes are so popular in the warmer months — all I want to eat during the summer are cool things like smoothies / shakes, traditional salads, lunch meat sandwiches, chilled soups (think gazpacho), and pasta salads! I’ll be adding this one to my regular summer rotation because it’s SO yum! I think it’s also pretty kid-friendly so it’s great to pull out for quick meals.

I learned that what makes these dishes considered to be “salads” isn’t the presence of lettuces / vegetables, but the use of dressing — isn’t that fascinating? I never would have guessed!

SALAD NOTES

Before I get into the actual recipe (which is admittedly more of a prep-and-assemble situation 🤭), I wanted to chat about a few things as they pertain to the ingredients of this salad:

— Regarding the pasta, any shape you prefer will work. Rotini and Farfalle are good bite-sized shapes with grooves to hold sauce, but any pasta you have in your pantry will work.

— De-seeding and removing the tops / ribbing of the mini peppers will be the most tedious part of this whole endeavor, so gird your loins!

— You can absolutely use cherry, mini heirloom(?) or any other variety of small, bite-sized tomato.

— If you would like to add additional flavor to the salad, you could replace the classic mozzarella pearls with a marinated version!

— Regarding the Garlic Expressions dressing (which I located in the produce section at my grocery store, not on the dressing aisle), I left the marinated garlic cloves out of the salad, just due to personal preference.

— You can also use an any zesty style Italian dressing you prefer (just not creamy!).

— You could also make the meal more filling by incorporating an additional animal or plant-based protein; I chose salami this time, but grilled chicken would also be delicious!

It goes without saying that you should make this salad your own by adjusting the ingredients as you see fit. Feel free to use this “recipe” as more of a starting off point to create your own variation!

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