Kitchen Tip Tuesday - Pasta Salad

I'm a pasta loving person. In the winter time I love nothing more then a big plate of pasta. Can be with tomato sauce or Alfredo, might have ground beef, might have shrimp.

Even in the summer time I love pasta - but tend to want something not so hot, so I turn to my favorite cold pasta salad (which happens to change based on what ingredients I have on hand).

Now this recipe is kind of a non-recipe as in I don't have exact amounts, you have to be creative and wing it.



I like to use rotini (spiral) or penne pasta as it holds more sauce.
I use a mixture of ranch and greek salad dressings.

The rest (optional - add or subtract based on your own preferences)

Tomato diced (halved cherry or grape tomatoes are great here too)
Feta cheese crumbled
Green olives sliced
Green onion finely minced
Edamame - cooked and chilled in cold water
Chili powder (not chile powder) this is flavorful, not hot
Seasoning salt

Here is the kitchen tip: (since Tammy changed the rules - has to be an actual kitchen tip - on me after I wrote this post :))

• Cook as many things as possible in the same pot. While my pasta is cooking, I can also throw my edamame in with it to cook. When the pasta is half done, I can throw some cut up asparagus into the same boiling water to cook for only a couple minutes.

While pasta is cooking, put all other ingredients into a large enough bowl.
Once pasta is cooked, drain and rinse under cold water til well chilled.
Toss with remaining ingredients
chill for an hour in fridge if you have time - I never do :)

And somehow I can't make a small amount of this and so I always have leftovers for lunch the next day :)

For more great kitchen tips, go to Tammy's!