Easy Pasta Salad
Easy Pasta Salad is one of our favorite summer side dishes bursting with flavor from herbs and crisp vegetables.
Life on the ranch pretty much means that there is no schedule, there are no set times for everyone to come home to eat dinner, especially if the guys are in the hay field.
We are spending way less time in the hay fields in Oklahoma, which is pretty nice. When it’s hay season the guys often stay until it’s done, so supper can range from three in the afternoon to nine at night.
Meal planning can be a real challenge. It is important to have something ready when they come in and pasta salad is my go to side.
This Easy Pasta Salad is great with Chicken Fried Steak Sandwiches, Grilled Burgers and Crunchy Barbecue Chicken Tenders.
We all love it and it’s the perfect way to get veggies on my kids’ plates without a fuss. My boys are definitely meat and potatoes type of guys. I also love this Chunky Vegetable Dip that is filled with crunchy veggies!
Another quick and easy side for summer is this Tomato Mozzarella Pasta Salad with homemade Italian dressing.
This is a sponsored post in partnership with Produce For Kids.
I cut the veggies up small and the dressing is chock full of flavorful herbs so the kids literally lick the plate clean. I call that a win.
I am excited to be working with Produce for Kids Get Healthy, Give Hope Campaign to bring you this great summer recipe.
Here in Oklahoma, Homeland is once again partnering with Produce for Kids® for the 12th Annual Get Healthy, Give Hope campaign to raise hundreds of thousands of dollars for children’s organizations. The joint campaign, will educate families on the benefits of healthy eating and raise money for Homeland’s designated local charity – the Regional Food Bank of Oklahoma’s Food for Kids Backpack Program. Since 2011, Homeland has raised nearly $60,000 for local children’s organizations.
Look for the Get Healthy, Give Hope Campaign in your local store for great recipes for busy families to make a difference with a local charity and make healthy choices for your family.
As picky as my kids can be they are pretty good at trying new things and they do like a variety of vegetables. I find that if I can get my youngest in the kitchen, helping out with dinner, he is way more excited to try out the dishes that he helped with.
I find it hard not to get into a rut with the vegetable side dishes and this Easy Pasta Salad was a nice change. I really love that it can be made ahead of time making dinner time just a little easier.
Pasta salad is great to use what you have on hand, I used crunchy carrots, celery, sweet peppers and juicy tomatoes for this one. Use your favorites or what you have in the fridge.
We love gardening and have had great luck growing sweet peppers, onions and even carrots. The kids are always excited to see things grow and it’s really a great way to spend time with them.
My kids also go crazy for this sesame pasta salad to change up the dinner routine. It has toasted almonds and green onions. Add sliced red peppers for a veggie kick.
Don’t miss Produce for Kids Six Tips for Saving in the Produce Department! Now I want to hear your tips for getting more produce into your family’s meals!
Easy Pasta Salad
Ingredients
- 1 pound bow tie pasta cooked according to package directions and drained
- 1 cup diced sweet peppers
- 2 stalks celery diced
- 1 carrot cleaned and shredded
- 1 cup sliced grape tomatoes
for the dressing
- 1 cup mayonnaise light mayo can be substituted
- 1/3 cup milk
- 1 teaspoon red wine vinegar
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme
- 1 teaspoon dried basil
- 1/2 teaspoon dried dill
- 1/2 teaspoon fresh ground pepper
Instructions
- Rinse cooked pasta with cold water until chilled. Drain well.
Add pasta, peppers, celery, carrot and tomatoes to a large bowl and stir to combine.
Mix all dressing ingredients together until throughly combined. Stir into pasta mixture and toss to coat completely.
Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve.
Disclosure: This is a sponsored post in partnership with Produce For Kids. All opinions are my own. Thank you for supporting the sponsors who help make this site possible.