Applause-worthy Pasta Salad
I love pasta. I love gluten in all of its forms, but pasta is probably my favorite. I make pasta a lot. Like, a lot, a lot. So of course, I have several different kinds of pasta salads saved in memory but this one is one of the easiest. And is also happens to be a crowd pleaser :-)
Any style of pasta will do here but I tend to like the spiral variety as I think they hold the dressing on best. I think you could even use spaghetti if you wanted so the world is your oyster when it comes to selecting your favorite shape. If you are not on the gluten bandwagon there are also several types of gluten-free pasta like *this* one. I've had it and can vouch for is taste and texture.
Ingredients:
8-10 ounces pasta of choice
1 cup each celery, onion; diced
1 cup tomato; chopped
1 tbs onion powder
1 tbs garlic powder
1+ tsp Kala namak (I like mine saltier than most so I use 2 tsp)
1/2 cup olive oil
2 tbs balsamic glaze
1 cup basil; chopped and more for garnish
Directions:
Add pasta to a large pot of boiling, well-salted water and cook according to instructions. Drain and rinse under cold water. The goal here is to stop the pasta from cooking any further. Once the pasta is drained and rinsed dump it into a good-sized mixing bowl—metal works best as it keeps the ingredients cold.
While the pasta is cooking you'll want to chop your veggies and assemble the dressing. For the dressing mix the olive oil, balsamic glaze, onion powder, garlic powder and salt together. Poor this mixture over the cooled pasta and mix well. Drop in the cut veggies and basil and mix again.
Voila! Amazing, applause-worthy pasta salad in a flash!
