Garden Pasta Salad

I have been in a recipe rut!  With the transition from winter to spring to summer, my foods usually change, but I haven't been so good at that since I have not been the one doing the grocery shopping (THANK YOU, Delia!).  This week, I was on my own.  I perused my recipe box, found some fresh garden sides, made my list, and went shopping!  Next time I will shop for a shorter period of time.  I did a week of groceries, and even with Bella helping push the cart, and both girls putting stuff in for me, I still managed to start contracting, and have been a little uncomfortable ever since.  Of course, my uterus became irritated after it took 2 hours to get it all!  She still won't settle down, and then Bumblebee gets irritated from that, starts squirming, and they just go back and forth.  Its not too bad, knowing that this may be what it takes for me to go into labor on my own, except for sleep...  but I digress!

photo courtesy of Red Gold

One of the recipes I dug out is from way back at the beginning of our marriage.  We lived in a small town in Indiana, called Alexandria.  Its sister town was Orestes, which is known for its tomato fields and for serving as the corporate headquarters of Red Gold.  Many people we knew there were employed through Red Gold, and I have been a loyal customer ever since.  Red Gold is a family owned business, and though it isn't local to me here in Kansas, I still feel that I should buy that brand whenever possible! (I'm loyal, what can I say?!)  I have never been disappointed in a dish made with the Red Gold product.  So the recipe I found was from a can of Red Gold Diced Tomatoes.  Its been SOME TIME since I've made it, but it was delicious!  The only thing I would add is cheese (and I see they have added that as an option).  Chunky cheese cubes.    It is fresh, cold, and yummy!

Following is the recipe copy and pasted from the Red Gold website.  Take some time to peruse the site, there are lots of recipes there!

Recipe Overview:

Servings:	8
Preparation Time:	25 minutes
Cook Time:	0 minutes

photo courtesy of Red Gold

Ingredients

1		(12 ounce) package		tri-color spiral pasta
1/2		cup		sliced carrots
2				celery stalks, chopped
1/2		cup		chopped green bell pepper
1/2		cup		chopped red bell pepper
1/2		cup		peeled and thinly sliced cucumber
1/4		cup		chopped onion
2		(14.5 ounce) can		Red Gold® Diced Tomatoes, drained or 2 (14.5 ounce) cans Red Gold® Petite Diced Tomatoes, drained
1		(8 ounce) bottle		fat free Italian salad dressing

Directions:

• In a large pan cook pasta in boiling water until tender; rinse under cold water and drain. In a large bowl combine carrots, celery, peppers, cucumber, onion and RED GOLD® DICED TOMATOES . Pour dressing over mixture; toss until evenly coated. Chill until ready to serve.
• Variation: For another texture and flavor add ¾ cup of shredded Mozzarella cheese before adding the dressing.
• This zesty pasta salad is bursting with flavor and is liberally dotted with lots of crunch vegetables.

Nutritional facts per serving:

Calories 200 Fat 1.00g Trans Fat 0.00g Cholesterol 0.00mg Sodium 290.00mg Carbohydrate 42.00g

Fiber 4.00g Protein 7.00g Vitamin A 120% Vitamin C 40% Calcium 4% Iron 15%

Cooking Hint:

To seed a cucumber, first halve it lengthwise. Use the tip of a spoon to scrape the seeds from each half. If you have a grapefruit spoon, you will find that the sharp tip works well for this task.

Special Diets:

Low Fat
Vegetarian