My mom would always cook THE BEST foods growing up. From her Lemon Chicken to her Tomato + Spinach Whole Wheat Pasta + my all time favorite her OG Pasta Salad.
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Regardless of how her day was, she was always in the kitchen cooking dinner for my brother + I, talk about a rockstar.
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Ever since I moved out, I have been trying to emulate her + her skills, making + baking my little heart out. For some reason it doesn't have that magic mom touch her meals would have, but I’m working on it, lol.
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I love being in the kitchen + putting a meal together because I know exactly what is going into the foods, making me feel a lot better once I’m finished eating + there’s a sense of pride when the man of the house goes for seconds, haha.
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I decided to switch it up + post a perfect summer recipe for you all, my Mom’s famous pasta salad. I would request this for every party, BBQ, + dinner I could.
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The nice thing about the pasta salad is that you can make it completely your own, if any of these ingredients don’t work for you + your family just swap it out for something you think would be a perfect addition to the pasta.
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What you’ll need:
-1 bag of trip color noodles. I love the tri color because it looks more fun, you can use penne, tortellini, or fusilli pastas, too.
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-1 can of olives; I used the whole can of olives
-1 container of artichokes; you can get marinated or non-marinated artichokes here. I only used about half of the container of artichokes.
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-1 onion; diced I used about half of it
-1 bell pepper; diced I used about half of it
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-1-2 cups of broccoli
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-White wine vinegar
-1 package of Italian dressing + follow the directions
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First things first, you should make sure you have some type of Tupperware with a lid + big enough to hold the pasta. I accidentally ended up with my Mom’s Tupperware, so I really feel like I’m always eating it with her.
Boil the water next. Add pasta noodles once the water is boiling + reduce the heat + allow the noodles to get al dente.
Add the broccoli to the hot water + pasta to allow the broccoli to cook a bit.
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Remove noodles and broccoli from water + allow to cool. I usually place them in the Tupperware + put it in the fridge for about 30 mins to an hr.
While to noodles are cooling, prep all the veggies + dressing.
I prepare the Italian dressing as said on the packaging.
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Cut the onion + bell pepper.
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Drain the artichokes + olives.
Once the noodles are cooled, add the dressing + mix until pasta is coated nicely then add the veggies to the pasta + mix some more.
I added a bit more Mrs. Dash Table seasoning, just because, so you do you + test the recipe as you go!
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I love this pasta salad with turkey burgers, chicken, or tri tip, sooo yummy. I am able to eat it over the course of like three days. It’s a super easy lunch to bring to work especially if you’re like me and always running late, so prepping lunch in the AM is a no go, haha.
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If you’ve tried something similar let me know what ingredients work for you, I’m a veggie lover + am always wanting to try different versions of my fav recipes!
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I’m off the devour a bowl of this salad + watch reruns of Law + Order SVU.
Ciao.
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