Cindy's Pasta Salad

Today's post is brought to you by my wonderful sister-in-law Cindy.  
She makes a pasta salad that the entire family is crazy about and we all beg her to bring for every summertime (and autumn and spring) gathering.  Sam has been known on many occasions to have it instead of dessert.

Here are Cindy's recipe and photos, just as she wrote and sent them to me, so that I could share them here with you:

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Pasta Salad from the Garden

"My family loves this salad.  It is best when you can pick the herbs right out of the garden.  You can use dried herbs too but it’s not as much fun or as pretty. 

There are no hard and fast rules for this.  You can add or leave out any of the veggies.  On occasion I’ve added radishes too.  While it’s a family favorite, there is always somebody that doesn’t like some ingredient.  One doesn’t like the cucumbers. The next one says the cucumbers are their favorite but they don’t like the peppers, and on and on.  

Well, too bad!  I like it all.

Ingredients:                                

12 oz package of tri-color rotini pasta

1/3 to ½ cup Olive oil

1/3 to ½ cup Red wine vinegar

Fresh Garden herbs –basil, chives, parsley, summer savory, dill

1 tsp Mustard

1 Cucumber

1 Red pepper

Small can of Chopped Black Olives

Sharp provolone cheese to taste

Stick of pepperoni – about a 4 inch piece

Grated cheese – about 2 tablespoons

Directions:

While cooking the pasta, chop the garden herbs and put them in a small bowl.  Add ½ cup of Olive oil and ½ cup red wine vinegar and let that marinate.  Stir in a teaspoon of mustard.

Cook the pasta al dente.  Drain and rinse in cold water.  In a large bowl, add the pasta, and then stir in the oil and vinegar mixture.  Drain the can of olives and add to the pasta.

Now prepare and add the following to the pasta mixture:

·        Peel the cucumber.  Cut in half, then quarters lengthwise and chop into ¼ inch slices.

·        Core the pepper and chop into small pieces. (Remove as much of the inside white membrane as possible).

·        Thickly slice the pepperoni then chop the slices into small bits. 

·        Slice the provolone cheese into small pieces. 

Mix everything together with about 2 tablespoons of grated cheese. 

If it is too dry, add more oil and vinegar to taste. 

This is best if made ahead of time to give all the flavors a chance to blend. 

Notes:  If you don’t have fresh basil, you can add a teaspoon or 2 of pesto instead. 

I usually start with a 1/3 cup of the oil and vinegar and add the rest if needed.  As it sits, it will absorb some of the oil and vinegar."

Yum Yum Yum Yum Yum Yum...

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Thanks for sharing your recipe Cindy!
And thank you all for stopping by, because...