Recipe for a pasta salad?

Question

I am looking for a recipe for a pasta salad. It would be nice if it was diabetic friendly, but it doesn't necessarily have to be. I also need to know about how many people it is going to feed so I can adjust it accordingly (for a party that I am going to). I would like something different, but nothing outlandish where I would end up spending a fortune.

Answer 1

Perfect Pasta Salad


Pasta salad is one of those wonderful dishes that invite endless experimentation and improvisation. It's the perfect accompaniment to a picnic, barbeque, or any meal at all; you can even make it hearty enough to be a meal all by itself. It can be dressed up for special occasions with primo ingredients, or it can be a last-minute "what's in the fridge?" meal. No matter what the occasion, though, you can make your pasta salads more delicious than ever by giving each of your ingredients the extra little bit of attention they need to make them really shine.

Pasta for Every Palate
A pasta salad is only as good as the noodles that hold it all together. Have fun with different pasta shapes-short or long, narrow or wide, solid or hollow, big or small, flat or stuffed... you can put a brand new face on the same salad simply by varying the pasta. Pasta is made from many different types of flour, and colored beautifully with many different vegetables, so be adventurous and try something out of the ordinary-from rainbow radiatore , spinach ravioli , and whole wheat fettuccine , to corn macaroni , buckwheat soba noodles, and rice vermicelli. There's no way to get bored with pasta when the choices are so deliciously endless.

It's even more important with pasta salad than with hot pasta dishes that you avoid overcooking the pasta. Overcooked pasta will fall apart when you try to toss it with dressing . Not only that, but if you allow your salad to "marinate " for several hours to let the flavors mingle, the pasta will soak up the moisture from the dressing and the other ingredients, turning slightly overcooked pasta to absolute moosh. Cook the pasta just until it becomes tender, pour it into a colander in the sink, then run cold water over it to stop the cooking and cool it down quickly. As soon as the pasta feels cool to the touch, shake the colander to drain off as much water as possible. Now dump the pasta into a bowl and toss it with some oil to keep it from sticking together.

A Little of This, a Little of That...
Because pasta itself is so versatile and mild in flavor, just about everything tastes good with it. Use ingredients that will give your pasta salad lots of varied taste and texture: cook vegetables just until tender, then plunge them into ice water to stop the cooking before they get mushy (this is called "refreshing" or "shocking" your vegetables), or just leave the vegetables crisp and raw. Other things to add gusto are toasted nuts, dried fruit, fresh herbs, crumbled cheese, and tidbits of your favorite meat.

Dress for the Occasion
To save a little time, you can always use bottled salad dressing to toss with your pasta salad, but if you're in a "from scratch" kind of mood, the possibilities are positively tantalizing. A mixture of oil and vinegar is arguably the most popular way to dress a pasta salad, but you can also make creamy dressing with mayonnaise , sour cream , or yogurt .

For saut�ing , it's fine to use vegetable oil, but for salad dressing, use high-quality, flavorful oils. Extra-virgin olive oil , toasted sesame oil , hazelnut oil , and walnut oil are all power-players in the world of taste, and you can get by with using much less oil while still adding superior flavor if you choose a bold one. To add that all-important zing to the dressing, try cider vinegar , balsamic vinegar, white wine vinegar, red wine vinegar, raspberry vinegar, or even lime or lemon juice. Whatever you use as the basis of your dressing, be sure to round it out with salt and pepper, and perhaps a dash of red pepper flakes, a little bit of crushed garlic, a dab of mustard, or anything else you think will make your pasta salad distinctly divine.

Answer 2

Mmmm....one of my favourites! Pasta Salad!

I make and sell this at my store. Use a bag of macaroni, any kind, cook, drain, then rinse with cold water so it doesn't stick together. You should have about enough macaroni for about 10 one cup servings.

Add about a cup and a half of Miracle Whip or mayo (I use Fat Free Miracle Whip), squish in about a tablespoon of mustard (you don't taste it at ALL, it just adds a "tang" to the salad), and about two tablespoons of sweet relish. Mix and see if you need anymore mayo or not. Cube any cheddar cheese into small cubes, and add them to the salad. (I'd add about a cup to a salad this big.) Dice some celery, and throw it in there as well! Some people also add ham, but you can basically add whatever you like. Some people also add diced hard-boiled eggs!

Put it into a nice bowl, and press down and clean the edges. Then sprinkle with paprika on top for contrast, and refrigerate. It actually tastes better if you make it the day before and refrigerate it overnight. If it looks like there is too much mayo, don't worry, the pasta actually absorbs some of it during the night, so it will be fine!

Mmm...now I'm hungry! Enjoy!!

Answer 3

Best Chicken Pasta Salad
Servings:8

INGREDIENTS:
2 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves
3/4 cup steak sauce
1 (12 ounce) package fusilli pasta
2 cubes chicken bouillon
1 Vidalia onion, diced
2 avocados - peeled, pitted and diced
1 cup halved cherry tomatoes
1 cup Ranch-style salad dressing


DIRECTIONS:
Preheat an outdoor grill for high heat. Place breasts into a glass baking dish and marinate in steak sauce for 15 to 60 minutes.
Grill chicken until no longer pink and the juices run clear. Remove from grill, and chop into bite-size pieces.
To a large pot of boiling water, add bouillon cubes and pasta. Cook pasta until al dente. Drain, and rinse under cold water.
In a large bowl, combine chicken, pasta, onion, avocados and tomatoes. Mix in salad dressing, cover, and refrigerate until chilled.

Answer 4

This is my favorite.

Pasta Salad

1-12ouce package curly (twisty) noodles
Cook according to package directions. Rinse and put in bowl with the veggies you have already chopped.

1 bunch scallions chopped (green and white parts)
1 basket cherry tomatoes, halved
or 1 basket grape tomatoes
1 cucumber, peeled, seeded and diced

Stir 1 tablespoon of garlic salt into 1 cup of mayonnaise.
Mix into pasta and veggies.
Can put in a couple of grinds of black pepper

The cucumber can be optional.
Enjoy!

Answer 5

SUPER MACARONI SALAD
1 16 oz box macaroni cooked,drained and cooled
1/3 cup shredded carrots
1/2 large green pepper finely chopped
1/4 cup minced onion
1 cup sweetened condensed milk
1/ 2 cup sugar
1 1/2 cups good mayonnaise (Hellmans, Kraft's,etc)
1 cup white vinegar more or less

Pour the macaroni in a large bowl, add the veggies, set aside. In a smaller bowl mix remaining ingredients, taste, it should have a nice sweet and sour flavor, add more sugar or vinegar until you like the taste. Then pour over the macaroni veggie mix, blend well and put in fridge until ready to serve.

Answer 6

This is a recipe that my family CANNOT get enough of...

1 box tri colored rotini noodles
1 large tomato (diced)
1 large cucumber (diced)
1med size bottle KRAFT ranch dressing

Just cook the noodles until they are as soft as you like them. Drain and immediately rinse with cold water. Add diced tomato and cucumber. Stir in entire bottle of ranch dressing. Mix well.. Refridgerate apx. 2 hours.. This will serve about 8 - 10 people.

Answer 7

Vegetable Pasta Salad

Ingredients:

1/2 cup reduced sodium 100% vegetable juice
2 Tbsp green onion, chopped
1 Tbsp vegetable oil
- grated peel and juice of 1/2 lemon
1 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp dried dill weed
1 1/2 cups (4-ozs) dry spiral-shaped pasta, cooked
3 medium plum tomatoes, sliced crosswise
1/2 cup green or yellow bell pepper, chopped
1/2 cup chopped radishes, sliced
1/2 cup cucumber, peeled and chopped










Recipe Number: 762
Servings: 4

Nutritional analysis per serving: calories: 177 grams of fat: 4 g. fiber: 2 mg. sodium: 20 % calories from fat: 22

Instructions:
To prepare pasta, bring 8 cups water and juice of 1/2 lemon to boil. Add pasta; return to boil. Cook, uncovered for 8 to 10 minutes, or until tender, stirring frequently. Drain and cool. Makes 2 1/2 cuups cooked. In a large bowl, combine vegetable juice, green onion, oil, lemon peel and juice, sugar and dill. Stir in remaining ingredients; chill. (1 cup servings)

Answer 8

Try looking on the Food Network. Just search Pasta Salad . www.foodnetwork.com

Answer 9

2 cups elbow maccaroni or pasta shells of your likeing, a bag of veggie medley, can of mushrooms, can of black olives, 1 avicado cut up, cubed chedder cheese and 1 bottle light italian dressing. Mix together. feeds about 12 maybe more. it makes a good amount.

Answer 10

cook pasta, add your choice of slightly cooked veggies (carrots, tomatoes, red peppers, broccoli, peas, celery, cauliflower, etc) . Mix with italian dressing (you can get the low carb dressing-- it has little or no sugar). Refrigerate and enjoy!