A Gardeners Forum Forums General Discussion Hobbies, Crafts and Creativity Our Favorite Recipes Pasta Salads?

Anyone have a pasta salad recipe to share? I am sort of collecting them.

My favorite isn't really a "pasta salad" at all... I misread Lynne's recipe for Lemon/Blueberry Chicken salad and added shell pasta to it. It is yummy!

Some of my friends swear by a salad they call "Italian Sub Salad". They cook up a box of whatever pasta they want... usually spirals. Then they dice up two or three types of Italian sandwich lunchmeats and cheese. They add pickles, green peppers, onions and black olives. Then they pour a bottle of robust Italian Salad dressing on it.

That doesn't appeal to me at all.

Maxi still likes pasta salads made with Ranch Dressing the best.

How about you, what do you throw in your pasta to make salad?


Merme

Hmmm!
I'm not the biggest fan of pasta salad unless the right person makes it. It seems to be tricky to get the right balance with vinegar and oil, but I'd bet you could toss in a tad of mayo to that and make it creamier.
I like the idea of meats, cheeses, olives, etc. with mayo or ranch, how could you go wrong?
I only like the macaroni salad with mayo or creamy dressing, not with vinegar. Spirals are pretty good.

This is a nice light, summer salad. I like salads with mayo but they can be heavy. This is something different. I have brought this to many gatherings and the recipe is always requested. Hope you like it!

Oriental Chicken Salad

1-box Barilla Bow Tie Noodles

3-Green Onions Chopped

1/2 C of Pea Pods (I use more than this. I buy a package in the produce section and put in the whole package. Do not use frozen because they get mushy)

5- Cooked Chicken Breasts Cut Up

1-Can Mandarin Oranges

Dressing:
1-Tablespoon Mayo

1/2 Cup Sugar

1/4 Cup Soy Suace

1/2 Cup White Vinegar

2-Teaspoons Sesame Oil

Optional:
Sesame seeds sprinkled on top of salad after mixed together

We also like the one with rotini noodles, cauliflower, broccoli, cheese, salami, olives, tomatoes and italian dressing. That is one of my favorites.