Good Times and Noodle Salad (Pasta Salad)

"This is a line from the movie "As Good As It Gets" where Jack Nicholson says some people have good childhood memories of going to the lake and noodle salad. This easy Italian-ish pasta salad is sure to accompany my families good times. I serve it warm with Italian Sausage for dinner or cold for picnics. Makes a great left over. All the measurements are approximate, use what you have on hand and as much as you like."
 
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Ready In:
30mins
Ingredients:
7
Serves:
6-8
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ingredients

  • 1 (16 ounce) box rotini pasta (the garden rotini with red green and yellow pasta makes the best presentation)
  • 12 ounces Italian dressing (homemade or store bought)
  • 1 cup cucumber, cubed
  • 4 roma tomatoes, cubed (use canned whole tomatoes in the off season)
  • 1 cup black olives, sliced
  • 12 - 1 cup cheese, cubed (I like Colby Jack)
  • 3 green onions, chopped
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directions

  • Cook Pasta according to directions.
  • Carefully toss in half of the Italian dressing.
  • Toss in the rest of the ingredients.
  • Pour the rest of the Italian dressing over salad.
  • Serve warm or cold. Cold salad is best the next day.

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Reviews

  1. Made this for a potluck at work. Everyone RAVED! I am not a fan of bottled Italian Dressing, but everyone else seems to be, so that's what I used. Great combination of flavors. I think putting the dressing on the warm pasta really makes this salad sing. I made some at home using a homemade balsamic vinagrette. It was not as pretty as the one I took to the potluck, but it was delicious! Thanks for the great recipe, Mandy :)
     
  2. Sounds fantastic!
     
  3. Great pasta salad! I'm usually not one for pasta salads, but this was great. I made it for a baby shower and it was a great success. I would use a zesty or spicy Italian dressing. I used the regular and it needed a little kick. I added some balsamic vinegar and a little Japanese 5 pepper spice and it was delicious.
     
  4. Good base recipe...I am making this tonight with roma tomatoes, no cucumber, red onion, green pepper , Kraft mediteranian cheese crumbles and sliced kalamata olives....yum!!!!
     
  5. Really good, really easy. I made this to go with BBQ hamburgers, and it was a big hit. The colored pasta made it pretty as did the colors of the other ingredients. I used grape tomatoes cut in half and T. Marzetti Light Caesar Vinegarette dressing. Can't wait for our next potluck at work; I'm going to take this!
     
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RECIPE SUBMITTED BY

I am a mother of three who loves to cook! I have a 4 1/2 year old girl and two boys, 18 months and 5 weeks. My daughter loves to help me cook, so recipes that she can help with always catch my eye. I think it's so important to have that time with her to teach her and bond with her. I also don't have much time so something delish that can be thrown together with the brood underfoot is a nessecity!
 
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