Mom’s Tricolor Pasta Salad

I hope you enjoy my mom's delicious pasta salad recipe. You can add any veggies that you prefer like broccoli, zucchini or green bell peppers and you can also toss in garbonzo beans or olives.  It seems to taste even better the second day.

I can still remember my mom making this pasta salad for me in the mornings before I went to school and later when I was in my early 20’s and still living at home. Just so I would have a fresh delicious salad for lunch instead of a boring sandwich.  I am in awe of how much she did for me and how lucky I am to have her! My mom is my biggest fan but can also be my worst critic. I never know if my recipe is quite right until she tries it and gives me her opinion.  I have to say she wins the academy award for best mother ever and you just never realize how selfless and loving they are until you have kids of your own! 


Tricolor Pasta Salad

 Ingredients

1 ½ cups tricolor corkscrew or other pasta
1 thinly sliced thin zucchini
1 cup broccoli florets
2 carrots shredded
½ cup chopped parsley
Salt and black pepper to taste
Pinch of white pepper
Pinch of fine red pepper
1 teaspoon basil and more to taste
1 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
4 tablespoons Extra Virgin Olive Oil to start and add more to suit your taste

Directions

Bring 3 quarts water to a boil and cook pasta with a dash of salt and a drizzle of vegetable oil (so pasta does not stick together)  according to package directions.  Perfectly cooked pasta should be “al dente,” or firm to the bite, yet cooked through. Rinse the pasta under cold water to stop the cooking process, and drain well. The only time you should rinse pasta after draining is when you are going to use it in a cold dish such as this pasta salad, or when you are not going to sauce and serve it immediately. You need to add seasonings a little at a time and adjust to your own taste. Mix all ingredients together and toss with cooked pasta and enjoy.

WHAT YOU MAY NOT KNOW ABOUT PASTA

Pasta is healthy, satisfying and economical. High quality durum wheat is the main ingredient in U.S.-produced pasta. It is from durum wheat, the hardest wheat knowN to man, that pasta gets its yellow amber color, nutty flavor and the ability to retain both shape and firmness when cooked.

Popular legend has it that Marco Polo introduced pasta to Italy following his exploration of the Far East in the late 13^th century. The Chinese were making a noodle-like food as early as 3000 B.C. And Greek mythology suggests that the Greek God Vulcan invented a device that made strings of dough (the first spaghetti!).  

Make someone smile cook or bake them something delicious!