Summertime Garden Veggie Pasta Salad

Summertime Garden Veggie Pasta Salad

Time: 30 mins

Ingredients

• 2 cups rotini pasta, dry
• water, to cook
• 1 dash salt
• 1 dash olive oil
• 2 medium carrots, julienned
• 1 medium red bell pepper, 1/2 inch dice
• 1 cup fresh green beans, ends trimmed and halved
• 2 tablespoons fresh peas (or frozen)
• 3 spring onions or 3 scallions, chopped
• 2 roma tomatoes, chopped

Directions

• 1 Cook pasta in boiling salted water according to directions, (usually about 10 minutes) but do not overcook. Mushy pasta will not work well for this recipe. Add a dash of olive oil to keep pasta from sticking while cooking.
• 2 In a bamboo or other type of steamer, steam the julienned carrot, fresh peas and green beans for about 5 minutes until just tender. Alternately, you could parboil them for just a few minutes to get them softened just a bit.
• 3 Drain and rinse pasta under cold water in a colander. Add to large bowl.
• 4 Mix steamed carrots, green beans and peas together into pasta. Add red bell pepper, green onions/scallions, and chopped tomatoes.
• 5 Mix ingredients for dressing together, and pour over pasta and veggies. Mix well to combine.
• 6 Place lid or plastic wrap over the bowl and let chill in refrigerator for at least an hour to let flavors meld.