Sunday, June 9, 2013

The Best Pasta Salad

Yesterday, my husband and I had some of his fellow medical student friends over to my parent's house to have dinner and hang out.  Because there was going to be about 15 of us total, we decided to just order pizza from a local place called Y Not.  It's close by, quick, and delish.  

However, I still wanted to have some other things on hand to snack on before the pizza arrived.  So I made a Glazed Summer Sausage, and a big batch of pasta salad inspired by this Pioneer Woman recipe. I must assert, though, mine is better!  I'm finished being humble now... here's how you make it.

The Dressing:
2/3 Cup of mayonnaise (or veganaise if you have it)
3 tsp white sugar
2 Tbs sweet and spicy pickle juice (plus more if needed to thin out the dressing)
1 Tbs red wine vinegar 

Whisk all the ingredients together.  Give it a taste.  Add sugar or pickle juice if it is 'missing' something.


Chop one purple/red onion

Chop up six of the sweet and spicy pickle spears (the same ones that you used the juice from in the dressing).  I used a brand called Famous Daves Signature Spicy Pickle Spears, and they were outstanding! I think it makes all the difference in the world to use yummy, flavorful pickles and pickle juice in this recipe.


Dice up two green bell peppers.  You could use any color you like, but I like the green ones in this salad.


Doesn't that look pretty? Pickles and onions and green pepper... yum.


 Next you toss it all together with cooked pasta that has had time to cool down.  I used Dreamfields Penne to up the nutritional value of this dish a little bit.  I probably used about 16 oz, which is slightly more than one box.  It is all about preference, though... You might want more veggies or more pasta or more dressing.  This ratio was pretty spot on for me (and our guests)! Enjoy!


No comments:

Post a Comment