The Best Pasta Salad Recipe!
Soon our garden will be bursting with fresh tomatoes and peppers, so along with the other veggies that I can snag at the farmer's market and the real foodie dressing ingredients, this makes the BEST pasta salad recipe because all the flavors blend so perfectly together. It's also a super easy salad to throw together for your summer cook-outs — it'll be a hit!
The original recipe called for “Accent”. I had no idea what it was until I read the ingredient label on the bottle at the store, there's only ONE ingredient: MSG!!! Obviously, I dropped the bottle in the aisle and ran. It was still just as delicious without it.
(This recipe is from my step-sister, Mary Jane, but she's far from wicked! My Mom remarried after my Dad died a few years ago, and we all love Carl and his family.)
Mary Jane's Pasta Salad
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup raw apple cider vinegar
- 1/2 cup olive oil
- 1/4 cup sesame oil
- 1/4 to 1/2 cup palm or coconut sugar (this is cut back from original recipe which called for 3/4 cup)
- 1 Tablespoon fresh or dried parsley
- 1/4-1/2 teaspoon pepper (more if desired)
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
- 1-2 teaspoons garlic powder (I like a lot)
- 1 pound pasta, cooked (I use mostly einkorn pasta now)
- 1 chopped peppers, I like using all different colors. it makes it tasty and pretty!
- 1/2 chopped sweet onion or handful chopped green onion
- 1-2 tomatoes diced
- 1 cup cheddar cheese, shredded
Instructions
Mix together apple cider vinegar, olive oil, sesame oil, sugar, parsley, pepper and salt and chill while you boil the pasta and do the chopping of all your veggies. Once the pasta is done, drain and allow to cool a bit. Then in a large bowl, or the pot you just boiled the pasta in, add your pasta and the dressing you've had in the fridge, your chopped veggies and cheese and toss well to make sure all the pasta and veggies get coated with dressing. Serve cold. (This makes a delicious meal if you add some leftover cooked chicken to it).
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More possible additions to the above that I've found recently:
- Broccoli, raw, chopped in bite size pieces
- Any fresh veggies
- 1/4 cup toasted sesame seeds
- 1/3 cup fermented soy sauce & 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger for more of an Asian taste
- 1/3 cup chopped fresh cilantro
- Sliced black olives
- Hard-boiled eggs, chopped
- For a more traditional macaroni salad, use mustard, mayo, lemon juice, and salt & pepper
- Be creative!
Do you know of good variations to this recipe? If so, please share in the comments!
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Melinda D. Wood via Facebook says
July 3, 2014 at 1:46 PMI pinned it on Pinterest. It sounds yummy! 🙂
Kelly the Kitchen Kop says
April 29, 2008 at 9:58 AMGreat, thanks for checking!
HelloKitty says
April 29, 2008 at 9:05 AMYes it is made with non- GMO corn. I found this info on their site just to be sure. Hope this helps!
The corn, from which the Molino di Ferro cornmeal derives,
undergoes strict controls and checks at the origin by authorised
bodies that certify its quality. In particular, the certificates
issued regard the total absence of GMO (genetically modified
organisms) and mould.
Kelly the Kitchen Kop says
April 28, 2008 at 5:05 AMThanks for the tip and link on the corn pasta – do you happen to know if it is made with non-GMO corn? I looked at the link and couldn’t find it – maybe it’s on the package?
Kelly
HelloKitty says
April 28, 2008 at 3:28 AMI actually found pasta made of corn. It’s healthy and tasta great. I can’t find it in the store so i buy online. It’s great if you have high cholesterol or diabetic. This is where i found it. Enjoy!
https://www.olivenation.com/cat-37/Italian-Gluten-Free-Corn-Pasta
Michigan Mom2three says
April 25, 2008 at 8:54 AMI’m not a big fan of your run of the mill canned black olive either, but the greek olives at the olive bar are wonderful! They have a much richer flavor. Canned black olives just taste “salty” to me now. No real flavor, just “salty”, whereas the greek olives each have a distinctive flavor, and taste rich to me. When I buy kalamata olives, I have to HIDE them from my children! 🙂
I have tried the sprouted spaghetti with very good results (it has a bit of a different texture, but still VERY good imo), and it has a much nuttier flavor. It’s lighter than regular ww pasta, but has that nutty flavor. Wheras the brown rice pasta has the smoother texture (similar to semolina) but not as much of a nutty flavor. I’m anxous to try the penne. It’s on my list the next time I go to Harvest.
Shauna
Kelly the Kitchen Kop says
April 25, 2008 at 4:28 AMShauna,
Great ideas for healthier alternatives to pasta!
I didn’t include olives, probably because I don’t like them!
Michigan Mom2three says
April 25, 2008 at 4:14 AMThis looks very similar to my pasta salad recipe, although I have used brown rice pasta in the past, and this year I want to try the Ezekial sprouted penne that I’ve seen in the stores. The only ingredient that I add that I don’t see mentioned here are chopped greek olives from Horrock’s olive bar! We prefer a mix of several kinds, or simply kalamata olives. This really adds a wonderful flavor to the pasta salad.
I have also diced up cheese or summer sausage (I get it from the Meerman’s) to make it a more hearty salad with a little protein.
Shauna