Quick and Easy Pasta Salad - Family Favourites

While the weather is still nice I am making the most of not needing heavy meals as we all do in the cold winter months.

This dish is a favourite for both the children and hubby to eat and for me to make as it is so quick and easy. It can be made as a last minute lunch, a side dish on a buffet and is great for packed lunches. This week I am going to show you how to make my quick and easy pasta salad.

The beauty of a dish like this is that you can add whatever vegetables or meats that you like or that you have to hand. Once you have made the base to this salad you can just about anything.

Today I am going to tell you the base salad recipe that I use and then give you some ideas for extras.

Here is this weeks Family Favourites recipe...

Quick and Easy Pasta Salad

Ingredients

250g dried pasta
1 yellow pepper, chopped
1/2 onion, chopped
1/4 cucumber, quartered and sliced
100g baby tomatoes, quartered
French mayonnaise

Method

1 - Cook the pasta as per instructions, once cooked drain and leave to cool for 15 minutes in a large mixing bowl

2 - Once the pasta has cooled simply add all of the vegetables and as much or as little French mayonnaise as desired

3 - Mix well until all of the ingredients are evenly combined and serve

The salad base is that simple. This can be made in half an hour with time to sit down or do other jobs!

Now for additional ingredient ideas...

• Tuna - Drain a tin of tuna and mix in with the vegetables
• Grilled chicken breast - Grilled chicken served on the side makes this salad into a bigger meal that is ideal of an evening meal
• Cheese - Add any cheese according to taste but I would recommend an extra mature cheddar, feta or a hard goats cheese
• Crispy bacon - Chop up 3 rashers of bacon and fry until crispy and scatter over the top before serving
• Eggs - Add hard boiled eggs
• Sunday leftovers - Add any leftover meat from a Sunday dinner and reduce your food waste
• Garden Veg pasta - Substitute the cucumber for broccoli and the peppers for grated carrots
• Sardines - Add either tinned or fresh sardines to the top for some extra flavours
• Plain and simple - Just as it is served with fresh bread or breadsticks, that is how the twins love it!

They are just a few ideas but as I said before you can add anything that you like.

Enjoy x