Pasta is traditionally made from unleavened dough of wheat or buckwheat flour and water., although there are many new kinds of pastas today. For instance, when you are ready to prepare a pasta salad, you might choose pasta made of quinoa, spelt, brown rice, artichoke, beet or asparagus. And pasta is available in different lengths, widths and shapes, such as spaghetti, macaroni, fusilli and lasagna pieces.
Pasta salad recipes are easy to prepare and also can be turned into light or heavy meals based on the ingredients you choose to accompany your pasta because there are an almost infinite number of choices available.
A very basic cold pasta salad recipe would include pasta; vegetables such as bell peppers, onions, broccoli, zucchini; some fresh spices like basil or parsley; and salt and pepper. For your pasta salad dressing, choose oil and vinegar or bottled Italian dressing. To prepare this delicious treat, simply mix the first ingredients, adding salt and pepper to taste. Generously pour the dressing to coat all ingredients. Chill and toss before serving the salad.
This recipe is a basic pasta salad recipe and can be modified by eliminating or adding any vegetable to the mix above. It can even be quite nutritious as it contains broccoli, which is high in iron, and is also is loaded with uncooked vegetables which have retained all their vitamins and minerals, rather than having them destroyed by cooking.
If you’d like the Italian pasta salad above to be "non-vegetarian", simply add some grilled and shredded chicken, boiled and quartered eggs, cold ham, pepperoni or any meat that suits your mood and hunger level.
Pasta salad recipes are native to multiple countries. The Greek edition of a pasta salad recipe would demand wagon wheels or shell shaped pasta, quartered cherry tomatoes, sliced and quartered cucumbers, wedged California ripe olives, crumbled feta cheese, sliced green onions and finely chopped parsley. The dressing for your Greek pasta salad formula should include lemon, pepper, sugar, dried mint, dried oregano, dried rosemary and olive oil.
You can find pasta salad recipes everywhere. All cookbooks have recipes and the Net is loaded with them. But your favorites may be those you invent yourself. For instance, I have several recipes that mention radishes. Yuck! The only veggies I don’t like are radishes and beets so I will never include those in any dish I fix. Hence, the creativity. A neighbor makes a shrimp pasta salad, but you can add ham, cheese, tuna or any vegetables on the planet. And don’t forget your dressing. It’s often mayonnaise but I love one with simply lime and salt.
So whip up your creative juices and get cooking. Inventing your personal pasta salad recipes keeps meals interesting. Boredom is deadly when it comes to food!
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