This week has been an incredibly busy week for me. Typically, I have evenings off to meal plan, complete assignments, and study for my classes, but this week, I was short on time. I officially started a third class this Wednesday as part of my baking certificate program. I was excited for this particular class because the course focused on food safety and sanitation. In between work and classes, I also had doctor and dentist appointments. While the upcoming week should be better, I still took some time out over the weekend to meal prep for the upcoming week. One of my favorite bulk meals to prep around this time of the year is pasta salads. With the longer days and weather become warmer in the next few weeks, I started craving lighter, healthier meals. My pasta salad with a homemade Italian dressing was the perfect dish to serve for a light lunch (and save for lunch throughout the week). Whenever I make pasta salads, I like to add a lot of colors and textures. I prefer to use crunchy vegetables to add another textural element to the salad. I started out by cooking an entire box of tricolor rotini pasta following the instructions on the pasta package. While the pasta was cooking, I diced up some carrots, red pepper, green pepper, celery, and cherry tomatoes. I also prepared a simple Italian dressing by combining some vegetable oil, red wine vinegar, Italian seasoning, garlic powder, kosher salt, and freshly cracked black pepper. Not only was this pasta salad extremely easy to put together, there was enough pasta salad left over for five additional servings after Kevin and I each had a serving. The best part of the pasta salad is how delicious the pasta salad tasted the longer it chilled in the refrigerator. Chilling the pasta salad in the refrigerator allowed all of the flavors to blend together. Preparing meals ahead of time frees up some of my time to focus on studying for my classes and completing homework assignments. After being out of school for several years, I forgot how little time I have in between work, classes, running errands, studying, and homework. At least when I cook in bulk ahead of time, I can cross meal prep off my list of to-dos when I get home during the week. To round out the rest of the lunch, I served my pasta salad with some roasted chicken. I had roasted a whole chicken to celebrate Kevin and my anniversary of nine years from the day we started dating. Knowing Kevin, he has to have some meat served alongside his meatless pasta salad.
Pasta Salad with Italian Dressing:
For the pasta salad:
· 4 quarts of water
· 2 teaspoons kosher salt
· 1 package (16 ounce) tricolor rotini pasta
· 2 carrots, peeled and diced
· 2 stalks celery, diced
· 1 red pepper, diced
· 1 green pepper, diced
· ½ teaspoon kosher salt
· ¼ teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper
· 6-8 cherry tomatoes, halved
For the Italian dressing:
· ¼ cup vegetable oil
· 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
· 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
· ½ teaspoon garlic powder
· 1 teaspoon kosher salt
· ¼ teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper
Directions:
1) Bring four quarts of water to a boil in a large pot. Once water begins to boil, add the two teaspoons of kosher salt. Pour in the box of rotini pasta. Cook the pasta according to the instructions on the pasta package.
2) In a large bowl, combine the diced carrots, celery, red pepper, and green pepper. Toss in ½ teaspoon of kosher salt and ¼ teaspoon black pepper. Set aside. Reserve the halved cherry tomatoes to toss into the pasta salad towards the end.
3) Prepare the Italian dressing by combining the vegetable oil, red wine vinegar, Italian seasoning, garlic powder, kosher salt, and black pepper in a bowl. Stir to combine all ingredients. Set aside.
4) Once the pasta is cooked, drain the pasta. Add the pasta directly to the large bowl with the diced vegetables. Add the halved cherry tomatoes. Pour in the Italian dressing. Toss the pasta and vegetables to combine with the dressing.
5) Cover the large bowl with plastic wrap. Chill for 30 minutes before serving.
Takeaways: The pasta salad taste best once it has had time to chill in the refrigerator. Chilling the pasta salad for even 30 minutes allows the flavors within the pasta salad to blend together. If you want, you can also toss in some thinly sliced basil, cubed mozzarella cheese, and arugula for a more decadent pasta salad.