Anytime Pasta Salad

When I think of pasta salad, I often label it in my mind as a summer side dish, but that really isn't true. Since my summer tomatoes are gone for the year (I stripped the vines last week and I'm silently crying inside), I use cans of diced tomatoes to add flavor to pasta dishes.

I want to share a delicious pasta side dish I made this summer as an accompaniment to grilled chicken and hamburgers. It's tasty with a long list of main dishes, so that's why I call it...(drum roll)...

Anytime Pasta Salad

Ingredients:
bag of tri-colored pasta spirals
can of diced tomatoes
can of Ro-tel
fat-free Zesty Italian dressing
crumbled goat cheese or crumbled feta cheese

Cook pasta according to package directions. Drain. In a large bowl, combine cooked pasta with the cans of tomatoes and Ro-tel, both undrained. Pour in enough Italian dressing to coat all of the pasta. I like to add enough so it's a little "soupy"; it will soak in overnight in the refrigerator and make the pasta extra delicious. Mix all well. Add crumbled goat cheese (my top pick) or crumbled feta cheese (great, too) to suit your taste. Personally, the more cheese the merrier. Mix in and store the entire dish in the refrigerator. If you have time to allow it to set in the refrigerator overnight, it is more flavorful.

This dish keeps in the refrigerator for a week. Take it from a Mama who knows - it makes just as good of a lunch you can eat standing up (especially with added pepperoni slices), as it does as a supper side dish. I can eat this pasta and teach a math lesson simultaneously like nobody's business!

Love,
TCB