Veggie Pasta

I made my all-time favorite dish for dinner tonight: veggie pasta!

You know you wanna eat this.

Artsy detail shot

I was first introduced to this recipe when I was in elementary school, thanks to my friend's dad, an employee of the Driskill's deli.  Driskill's is now Kowalski's, which makes me sad.

Slice those tomatoes!

So, rather than buying a pint of salad from the store, I make my own!  My friend's dad wonderfully gave me the recipe for this salad, and I've made it for every gathering/party I've ever been to since.

Tommy-toes and cukies ready to go

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Servings: about 12 (more like 8 if you're me...)

Ingredients:

1 12 oz. package rainbow rotini

12 oz. cherry tomatoes, quartered

8 oz. baby carrots, sliced into 1/2" rounds

8 oz. broccoli wokly, giant chunks broken up

2 cucumbers, sliced and quartered

1 green pepper, chopped

1 red, orange, or yellow pepper, chopped

1 jar green olives

1 can sliced black olives

1 16 oz. bottle zesty italian dressing

Evidence of total vegetable domination

First, you're going to want to start some water boiling for your pasta.  While that's heating up, start cutting up all of your veggies, adding them to a giant bowl or pot as you go along.

Once the water's ready, cook the pasta for 10-12 minutes (or to package specifications) until al dente.

Rainbow rotini is only three different colors...

Drain the pasta and rinse with cold water.  Once it's cooled down a bit, you can add it to the veggie mix.

Gettin' zesty

Once the pasta and all of your veggies are combined, dress them in the zesty italian.  I typically use up the whole bottle, but you may want to use less because I'm somewhat of a dressing fiend.

All dressed up with nowhere to go

Enjoy!

xo