Pasta and Vegetable Salad

Last weekend I made a Pasta Salad for my mum and my brother. Dad couldn't eat this because he was recovering from an upset tummy. So I made him a soup, something like this one but stripped down to only meatballs and  finely cubed carrots and potatoes.

I did not make any for myself because I was fasting. Hah! Fasting, eh? Well, I do intermittent fasting every now and then. It's supposed to be good for health (and for weight loss).

While waiting for my parents to arrive from the airport, my brother and I went grocery shopping to stock up on supplies. On the way out, my brother asked me "Want to eat something naughty?". This in spite of the fact that he knew I was fasting and noticed that I was wearing my fat pants. 

What was that naughty something?

Gah!!! How could anyone resist that??? So of course lah I want.

Back at his house, we shared, three for you and three for me. It was so so so good.... I haven't had durians for more than a year.

Sorry, I digress. Let's get back to the pasta salad. I made two big portions that could easily feed four small eaters or three regular eaters. 

This one is mine. Just one portion. A big one. wahahaha!!!

I thought it might be too much for one person but oh my, my brother and mum finished everything up. I should never underestimate the capacity of my family to eat large amounts of food hee..hee..

I was very pleased that both of them enjoyed the salad and I kind of regretted not making extra for myself. But never fear as I still had some ingredients leftover. So the next day, I made some for me. It was a good thing that the balance of the spiral pasta was enough just for one portion.

With added vegetables, it made for a very ample serving. I ran out of sausages and substituted with beef pepperoni instead. Well, I did pick up some sausages on my grocery run but they were frozen ones and I did not have time to wait for them to defrost.

What is nice about a pasta salad is that you can make this ahead of time. In fact it is better to prepare in advance for the flavors to develop and mingle. One of the things I like to do is to marinate the cherry tomatoes, capsicum and onions beforehand with the dressing.

I really love pasta salad and perhaps to avoid eating too much pasta, one could reduce the amount of pasta and up the other ingredients. This time, besides cherry tomatoes, I added red, green and yellow capsicum and blanched broccoli. 

As a matter of fact, you can add whatever vegetables that strikes your fancy. I am thinking button mushrooms, zucchini, cauliflower and cucumbers. As for the dressing, you can change that up too.

Pasta and Vegetable Salad

Recipe source : Phong Hong

For the salad :

- 350g spiral pasta, cooked according to package instructions

- 1 small head of broccoli, cut into small florets and blanched

- 1/4 red, green and yellow capsicum, thinly sliced

- 1 small onion, thinly sliced

- some Italian or English parsley, finely minced

- some sausages, grilled and sliced into coins or can use cold cuts, sliced.

For the dressing :

- 3/4 cup olive oil

- 1/2 cup red wine vinegar

- 2 cloves garlic, finely minced (I used a garlic press)

- 1 tablespoon honey

- 1 tsp sea salt

- 1 tsp freshly cracked pepper

- 1 tsp dried oregano

- 1 tsp dried parsley

Method :

1. To make the dressing, put all the dressing ingredients into a blender and blend until emulsified.

2. Pour into a small jar and store in the fridge if not used immediately.

3. To make the salad, put all salad ingredients into a bowl and add as much dressing as you need and toss well. Taste and add more dressing if necessary.

4. I like to add some freshly cracked pepper to the salad at the end.

5. Salad can be made ahead and stored in the fridge.