Pasta Salad

My mom has always been an amazing cook, baker, and inspiration. For as long as I can remember I have been her shadow in the kitchen. As a child I watched her brown roasts and chop potatoes for cozy Sunday dinners. I helped her bake and frost countless cupcakes and sugar cookies for school birthday parties and holiday celebrations. She taught me the importance of sharing food with the people you love   and the gesture of devotion and care that comes with that.  So when she suggested that I should try making a gluten and dairy free pasta salad, I knew she was onto something. And she was right. For once I altered her recipe to fit my dietary needs, I able to indulge in another addition to my burgeoning recipe collection.

Here are my ingredients:

• One jar of Annie's Naturals Tuscany Italian dressing 
• 1 medium sized red bell pepper
• 3 bunches of scallions
• 1 box of Ancient Harvest Gluten Free Garden Pagodas pasta
• olive oil 
• goat cheese (optional)
• soy nuts (optional)

My cooking went as so: 

1. Bring a pot of water to a boil; add some olive oil to keep pasta from sticking together

2. Once the water is boiling, add the pasta and follow the cooking directions

3. While the pasta is cooking dice the red pepper and scallions. You will want to use just the top 3 inches or so of the scallions. Once the stalk begins to split is a good stopping point for the amount of scallion you will want to use. 

4. Place the pepper and scallions in a small mixing bowl. 

5. Once the pasta is done cooking, strain and then rinse with cold water. Place the pasta in a large mixing bowl. 

6. Add the peppers and scallions to the pasta and carefully fold all ingredients together. 

7. Finally, add the italian dressing and mix well. Transfer to a tupperware dish and store in the fridge. Chill for a few hours or save for later. This should hold up for about a week in the fridge. 

* When serving the pasta salad, feel free to add some goat cheese and soy nuts, or any other toppings you would like! Pasta salads are fun dishes to add variety too, so feel free to add any ingredients you would like!

The final step of mixing the dressing in.