my grandma’s birthday was over the summer.  to celebrate such a joyous occasion i suggested we all came to my apartment and i would make dinner. in my mind this was a great plan… it would be an evening filled with music, laughter, good company and of course, good food.  of course i wasn’t planning with the fact i would be leaving for ireland in about a week after that and my to-do list kept growing by the minute.  the timing was not in my favor, so i had to make sure i made easy make-ahead dishes in order to keep my sanity.

since it was still very warm i didnt want to make very heavy dishes and i wanted to make ahead as many things as possible.  then i remembered the pasta salad i made for a new years party a few years back.  it was really easy to make and it tasted great and even better the next day. 

so here is the recipe for easy make ahead pasta salad!

INGREDIENTS:
2 boxes of rotini primavera or any tri-color macaroni
1 green bell pepper
1 red bell pepper
1 can of sweet corn
1 can of string beans 
1/2 cup of baby tomatoes
salt & pepper
olive oil
light italian dressing
1 large carrots

INSTRUCTIONS:
cook the pasta according to the instructions on the box.  add a splash of olive oil to the boiling water to prevent the noodles from sticking together.  once the pasta is cooked, drain and let it cool down.

peel and wash the carrots, then slice them so they are bite sized.

the trick is to make all the veggies around the same size.  chop up the peppers…

cut the tomatoes in half

add the string beans

the corn

i didn’t have any but if you have broccoli, it is a nice complement to this salad.

mix everything with the dressing.  i used most of a bottle. 

add some salt and freshly ground pepper if you feel it needs it.  i didn’t add anything else, i feel the salad dressing does a perfect job by its own. 

cover and put the container in the frigde overnight. the next morning the noodles and vegetables would have absorbed all of the dressing and will be bursting with flavor.

i added the rest of the dressing right before serving.  sometimes i add parmesan cheese right then as well but i didn’t have any in the house that day.

such and easy salad to make!

thank you for stopping by, hope you try it!!

ps. my family are big on their rice and when my aunt belkis (who makes the cheesy eggplant) found out i wasn’t making rice for the party she was horrified. she showed up at my door with a pot of rice to feed everyone!! hahahahahahaha!