Garden Pasta Salad

A recent trip to our local favorite farm stand had me super excited to try some new recipes. I am like a kid in a candy store when it comes to farmers markets or farm stands. I am drawn to color and just looking at all the glorious farm goods gets me every time. I tend to buy way more than I should and then wind up trying to figure out how to use it all. Well I made sure this time to use up every last bit of my haul that day. My cherry tomatoes are doing so well so I made sure to pick up some. The red ones were shaped like strawberries. They were so cute I couldn't help but buy them.

What is not to love about this bowl of goodies? See I told you, eye candy....

My niece usually brings a similar pasta salad to most of the family functions. My usual go-to recipe for pasta salad is a ranch based salad. My family absolutely adores it. I knew I wanted to try something different this time with all the garden veggies I had on hand. Although the response from the family was less than eager when they found out I was making it. They soon changed their attitudes when they tried it. I mean come on, what is not to love here? The struggles are real when it comes to keeping everyone happy in this house. I just keep plugging along and they usually follow. They are like my little puppets....shhh....don't tell them.

This is super easy to throw together and have ready in flash when you are headed out to a BBQ. While the noodles are cooking, chop up all the veggies and have it ready to mix in together in a big bowl and you are done. See that was easy.

Garden Pasta Salad

1 (16 oz) box rotini pasta

1 pint of cherry tomatoes (I used red and yellow) halved or quartered

¼ cup green pepper, diced

1 cucumber, sliced and cut into quarters

1 cup of mozzarella cheese, diced into cubes

½ to ¾ cup of Italian dressing

Cook the rotini pasta according to package directions. Drain and rinse under cold water. In a large bowl combine the pasta and remaining ingredients and stir until combined. As the salad sits it may require a little more dressing as the noodles soak up the dressing. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

*Not a fan of Italian dressing, just swap it out for your favorite dressing.

The recipe was shared in a recent issue of Chesapeake Style Magazine.

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