Pasta Salad

I have a handful of pasta salad recipes under my belt, including my wife’s favorite, the garlic infused noodles, and as I typically make that dish throughout the year, there is one that is truly delicious for summertime picnics. This pasta salad has the perfect balance of sweet, salty, and a kick of onion that is sure to get your taste buds started. The beautiful thing about this recipe is that it basically takes as long to make as it is to boil your pasta and let cool, roughly 15 minutes.

Ingredients:

• 1 can of artichoke hearts, drained, rinsed, and chopped
• 1 lb rigotoni noodles, cooked and cooled
• 1 can of medium, whole and pitted black olives
• Half a pint of grape tomatoes
• Medium cheddar cheese, cubed
• Half of sweet vidalia onion, diced
• 1 green bell pepper, chopped
• Garlic summer sausage, cubed (optional)

For the dressing:

• 1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
• 1/4 cup white vinegar
• Pinch of salt
• Fresh ground pepper
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• 1/2 tsp ground oregano
• 2 tbs chopped fresh parsley
• 1/2 tsp dry mustard
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil

Cook the rotini noodles per the directions, roughly 10 minutes. While the noodles are cooking we will make the dressing and clean and chop the vegetables. To make the dressing, combine the dressing ingredients to a large bowl, and aggressively whisk to break the oil in the other ingredients.

Next, get your vegetables chopped, keeping the chop consistent in size among all of your vegetables. The same chop will be used for your cheese and sausage. Once your noodles are drained and cooled, add to a large bowl and toss with the vegetables, cheese, and sausage. Pour the dressing on top, and evenly coat. I like to let this sit and marinate for a couple of hours before serving at room temperature.