CLEAN OUT THE FRIDGE PASTA SALAD!! PERFECT FOR SUMMER!!

Warm weather is upon us and summer is here. Time to think about cool, refreshing options for meals and snacks. Today I am sharing my version of what I like to call "Clean out the fridge Pasta Salad." See what you have in the fridge, cheese drawer, meat drawer, veggie drawer and pantry and toss it all together with some cooked pasta and bottled or homemade dressing to create a delicious salad that could stand on it's own as a meal or as a side dish for delicious grilled meats. Mine may look different from yours and that is the beauty of this entire process! So go create something delicious!

I started by using a 12 ounce box of dry tri color rotini that I cooked just until it was toothsome or "al'dente". I drained it and rinsed it well with cold water and like my mom always did, tossed a cup of ice cubes in with the hot pasta to cool it off. Tossed this under running cold water and quick as a wink, that pasta was cooled and ready to use.

I had a look in my fridge for goodies to add to my salad. I had some cucumber, grape tomatoes, baby bell peppers and the white ends of one bunch of scallions or green onions waiting to be used in the veggie drawers. A look in the meat and cheese drawer revealed some pepperoni and a bonus, unused wedge of feta cheese in the back from that time Molly made that internet craze feta and tomato pasta dish, which was amazingly delicious and I may just have to share my version with you sometime soon. On to the pantry where I was hoping to find a can of black olives, bu alas, none to be seen but I did unearth a can of artichoke hearts for the win. I also grabbed a jar of pickled banana pepper slices and an open jar of Caesar dressing that were all going to be mixed into my salad.

I chopped, sliced and diced to my heart's content then dumped everything together in the pot with the cold pasta along with about a half cup of dressing and mixed well. This is best if it is allowed to sit and marinate for a while so all the flavors can meld together. If you do this, set the salad in the fridge until ready to use, then give a stir. It may have soaked up a bit of that dressing and it is perfectly acceptable to add a bit more if that is your preference. The only caveat I would give is not to let this swim in dressing.

This is great as a quick and delicious lunch, a cool and refreshing dinner or like we are going to serve it, as a side dish to some grilled chicken that we will have tonight for supper. I think that this is a super versatile way to use up leftovers, bits and bobs and pieces that may not get used as quickly because they kind of turn invisible after a while and end up in the bin.

LIke I said, my salad may not look like your salad. Maybe you want to use ranch dressing, chicken, bacon and elbow macaroni. Maybe you want to put a different spin on things and use imitation crab meat, green onions, celery and thousand island dressing with some bowtie pasta. The pasta=bilities are endless really and you can take them where ever your fridge and pantry take you!

I hope you give this clean out the fridge idea for pasta salad a try sometime soon and I hope you love it!

Happy eating!

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