Simple Veggie Pasta Salad

Salads and pasta salads make great hot-weather meals, and I really like this Simple Veggie Pasta Salad because it’s easy to make and the only cooking involved is for the pasta. I also like it because it’s so colorful! The orange bell pepper, shredded carrots, green onions, grape tomatoes, olives, and Cheddar cheese all combine to make this dish a feast for the eyes as well as the tummy! 🙂 The dressing that you toss everything in is simply your favorite Italian salad dressing (I used Olive Garden dressing). How easy is that?

You can serve this as a main dish or a side dish. To make this a heartier main dish, you could add in 1 to 2 cups of chopped cooked chicken (use leftover chicken or rotisserie chicken and add a little more dressing to the mix so there’s enough to coat the chicken). It would not be a veggie dish any longer, of course, but chicken would be really good in this!

Simple Veggie Pasta Salad

Servings: 4-6
Time: 30mins
Difficulty: easy
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SIMPLE VEGGIE PASTA SALAD

Makes 4-6 servings

3 cups (8-ounces) uncooked shell pasta
1 cup chopped yellow, orange, or red bell pepper
1/2 cup shredded carrots
1/2 cup sliced green onions
1 1/2 cups grape tomatoes
1 (3.8-ounce) can sliced black olives
1 1/2 cups shredded Cheddar cheese
1/2 to 2/3 cup of your favorite Italian salad dressing

Cook pasta according to package directions, then drain and rinse in cold water. Next, place pasta in large bowl and add the chopped bell pepper, shredded carrots, sliced green onions, grape tomatoes, sliced black olives, and shredded Cheddar cheese. Toss to distribute ingredients evenly.

Pour the Italian salad dressing over all the ingredients in the bowl and toss to coat. Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve.

Recipe from NancyC | nancy-c.com

Easy recipes like this are so convenient for hot summer days! What types of dishes have you been making lately?

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