Saturday, July 21, 2012

Farmer's Market Summer Pasta Salad

 some of my Farmer's Market  bounty from this morning....gorgeous purple bell peppers...
 a stunning bouquet of sunflowers... and all the veggies I needed for my favorite pasta salad recipe.
 I use the term "recipe" very loosely as it is really just a two ingredient dressing and everything but the kitchen sink thrown in.  You can use absolutely any kind of veggies you like~I knew I wanted tomatoes and onions and when I saw the gorgeous purple peppers, I had to have some of those too.  Fresh cilantro goes in just about anything in my house so I grabbed some of that as well...yummy...


 Use whatever pasta you like, I prefer bowtie...1 bottle of ranch dressing and a little bbq sauce makes a unique and delicious dressing!

 Mix everything in one bowl and chill!   This salad lasts my little family almost a week and we have it with grilled hotdogs, hamburgers, chicken, you name it!  I've been making this every summer for several years and it never fails to impress!                                                                                                                        
 For a light summertime dinner serve with a fresh tomato sandwich on sourdough bread.....TO DIE FOR!
"Farmer's Market Summer Pasta Salad"

Ingredients:
1 lb. pasta of your choice
1 bottle of Ranch Dressing {add a little water to get it ALL out of the bottle}
1/4 - 1/2 cup of BBQ sauce
Fresh  veggies of your choice

Cook pasta according to pkg. directions. Drain and cool.   In the meantime, in a large bowl, combine ranch dressing and bbq sauce.  Add in chopped veggies.  When pasta is cooled, add to bowl and stir all ingredients together.  Chill for at least an hour {tastes best when chilled overnight}, serve and enjoy!
Try adding:  crumbled bacon, shredded cheese, radishes, chives, cucumber, black olives, corn or anything else that sounds yummy!