Lotsa Pasta

I have been making a lot of delicious pasta dishes lately! First, I made a yummy ranch cold pasta salad. Then, I made an Italian Stuffed Shells dinner, and last night I made a Pasta Primavera with ham. YUM, YUM, YUM! They were all successful.

I will feature the ranch salad (pictured above) in today's post. This recipe was adapted from Sandra Lee, who is on Food Network with her show "Semi-Homemade." In her magazine, she often features one convenience item used 4 different ways. In an old issue (last year) she used those ranch dressing packets- found near the salad dressings in the supermarket.

Ingredients:
1 pound of bow-tie pasta (farfalle)
1 bunch of broccoli, cut into florets
12 oz. bag of baby carrots, sliced
1 cup of cherry or grape tomatoes, cut in half
1/3 cup sliced radishes (I am not a huge radish fan but they just provide a nice crunch!!)
1 (1 ounce) packet of Hidden Valley ran salad dressing and seasoning mix
1 cup of buttermilk
1 cup of light mayo
coarse sea salt to taste
black pepper to taste

How-To:
1. Cook the pasta according the box and add the broccoli to the pasta pot during the last two minutes of cooking. Rinse in cold water and drain.
2. In a big bowl combine the pasta broccoli mixture, the carrots, tomatoes, and radishes. I used a package of already sliced radishes from Wegman's which cut down on prep.
3. In a medium bowl, mix the ranch mix, the buttermilk, mayo. Toss with the pasta.
4. Cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours before serving. Add salt and pepper to taste. If you want, you can add in basil or garnish it with basil.

It makes a lot, so you can keep it in the fridge for lunches. It is nice to take to picnics, too, and goes well with burgers and dogs for a dinner.