“Lowly” Pasta Salad

My Grandma Mi-Mi and I have been hanging out lately.  Both of us needed a friend so we are just companions for the time being.  It has worked out rather nicely all things considered.  We eat frequently and well.  Neither one of us really “hate” on any food and we like experimenting.  So when it is time for her “daily feedings” usually that means I get fed too!  So I have a short story and recipe to share with you all.

One thing you should know about my Grandma Mi-Mi….she likes to eat.  She is skinny and eats a ton.  She is notorious for coming over the day after a holiday just to see us grandchildren (and steal our left overs!)  She has single-handedly started 3 civil wars over food at my house alone.  Imagine that….us fighting over food?!  What heathens!   Well survival tip #7 for surviving at my household:  learn to hide what leftovers there are or else you would have to sleep with one eye open!  Family will kill for food.  You know going back to the whole hunter-gatherer…thing.

Source: http://photos.igougo.com/pictures-photos-p259158-Grandma_eating_at_Cantina.html

Grandma Mi-Mi, she is a feisty lady.  I will give her that.  Having 12 children, I guess you would have to be!!  Well long story short, Grandma Mi-Mi had some whole wheat pasta that she didn’t know what to do with…so I made the executive decision that we would create some pasta salad.  I really didn’t know where I was going with this one except to say it would be eaten and delicious simply because I said so!

My mom and I went to the store and she gave me some pointers on flavors.  It was rather fun exploring the fresh produce section for goodies to include in this salad.  We lost her grocery cart once or twice thru the process, but either way it was a laughable excursion and we came out of the store under budget.  Surprising enough, we ended up picking and agreeing upon similar items.  Mother/daughter bonding all while picking up some “fruit”.  Sounds delightful to me!  😉

Needless to say, any pasta salad makes enough for a small army to be fed.  Well this made enough for Grandma Mi-Mi and I to be fed two ample helpings and not be overstuffed.  AND we even had some for our next daily feedings!   This large bowl ended up being downsized to a dinky Tupperware.  How dare I even suggest that we might have to “freeze” half of it for later!  I should have known that it was a silly comment AND HOW was I to under-estimate the hunger power of Grandma Mi-Mi….bad move.

Well to satisfy the hunger of Grandma Mi-Mi and myself we created this “Lowly” Pasta Salad.  I hope it brings you as much laughter and “satisfaction” as it did for us!

“Lowly” Pasta Salad

You will need:

1 box whole wheat pasta

1 to 1-1/2 cup fresh-cut pineapple

1/2 cup crushed walnuts

1 small skinned and sliced cucumber

1/2 to 3/4 cup chopped green peppers

2 chopped Roma tomatoes

1/2 bag Craisens

1 bottle of Lite Balsamic Vinaigrette

All you have to do is boil, drain and cool your whole wheat pasta.  Chop and prepare your vegetables. Keep the tomatoes, green peppers and cucumbers in larger chunks.  You aren’t going to be cooking any of them…but it just works best.

Once noodles are cool, pour them into a large mixing bowl.  Saturate your noodles in Lite Balsamic Vinaigrette.  I used about 3/4 a bottle to get them good and covered.  Use more or less as you wish.  Then, start by adding the ingredients in one by one and lightly turning them.  You could add a pinch of salt and pepper if you would like a little seasoning.

Another item that I paired this with was seasoned chicken.  I like the ones that are already baked that you can get from Kroger or Meijer.  They are roasted and I would stick with the original flavoring.  Basically, I pulled enough chicken off for my serving and stirred it in to my mix.  Gives you a little more protein and sustenance.  You probably wont want to mix the chicken all together unless you were bringing it to a party that way.

If not, preparing a seasoned grilled chicken breast is not difficult either.  🙂

Enjoy!

❤ The CatMan

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