It feels wonderful to eat our homegrown vegetables and herbs. This recipe was inspired by our abundance of basil and bell peppers. Basil and bell peppers are two things that scream out Italian pasta salad for me. My family loooves a good pasta salad too, so this recipe was born! I jazzed up ready made salad dressing to keep things super easy.
Pictured here are ingredients I used. With any pasta salad the concept is pretty basic. Use a bunch of colorful fresh vegetables, add herbs, beans, cheese, pasta and a quality salad dressing. The versatility is what I love about pasta salad. I've improvised with whatever I had on hand and the pasta salad always turns out amazing. There is one ingredient that is a must in this recipe-fresh basil. Fresh basil gives it that classic Italian taste and pungent aroma. So don't skip out on the basil!
This is the Italian salad dressing that I use. It's probably the closest thing to home made that you'll find in a bottle. Click here for the link to this salad dressing.
And this is my all time favorite balsamic vinegar. Yes it's not a fancy brand, but the taste is divine! It's a Kirkland Signature brand and it's sold at Costco. Click here for the link to this balsamic vinegar.
Ingredients for salad
-17 oz cooked pasta of your choice
- 1 16 oz can of garbanzo beans
- 1 cup olives of your choice
- 1 1/2 cups bell peppers, about 3 peppers (any color)
- 1 1/2 cups tomatoes cut to bite size
- 1 cup basil densely packed & chopped
-1 cup red onion chopped
- 16oz mozzarella cubed to bite size
Ingredients for the dressing
-12 oz ready made Italian dressing
-1/2 of a juice of lemon
- 1 TBSP balsamic vinegar
Directions
1. In a large bowl, mix all of the the vegetables, pasta and basil together.
2. In separate bowl, mix the salad dressing, lemon juice & balsamic vinegar together till combined.
3. Pour salad dressing onto the pasta and vegetables. Mix together till well combined.
And here is your Italian pasta salad ready to enjoy! I'd love to hear if you make this recipe in the comments below. Stay tuned for more yummy recipes!
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