My Favorite Pasta Salad

The theme for Random Recipes today is "lunch." This was tough for me, because my lunch is usually a grilled cheese sandwich or left-overs. But as the weather warms, my thoughts turn to summer foods, and this is one of my favorite summertime meals. You can do all the prep in the morning and have this for lunch or supper, or both! This recipe makes a lot!

If you need a great low-fat panini recipe, click here for a turkey reuben.

Also, go check out Random Thoughts today for more great Random Recipes!

My Favorite Pasta Salad

Ingredients
8 ounces wagon wheel macaroni or tri-colored corkscrew macaroni or desired pasta
1 medium sweet red pepper, cut into thin strips
1 medium yellow squash, halved, sliced lengthwise (and/or zucchini)
10 ounces frozen peas, thawed or 1 1/2 cups fresh peas, cooked and cooled
6 ounces black olive, pitted, drained (we're not olive fans, so we usually leave these out)

4 ounces smoked cheddar cheese, cubed
1 cup unblanched whole almonds, toasted
1/2 cup green onion, sliced
2 tablespoons fresh tarragon, snipped or oregano or basil or dill
8 ounces Italian salad dressing

Directions
1. Cook pasta according to package directions.

2. Rinse with cool water and drain thoroughly.
3. Cool pasta to room temperature. In a large mixing bowl combine pasta, sweet red pepper, yellow squash or zucchini, peas, olives, cheese, almonds, green onions and herb.
4. Add dressing to pasta mixture. Toss gently to mix.
5. Cover and chill for 2 hours or up to 24 hours.