Pasta Salad

Today is a rainy Sunday.  Not the downpour kind, but a gentle mist that has persisted throughout the late morning and afternoon.  I love these kinds of days...the rain is soothing, it puts me in the mood to drink that extra cup of coffee, and it [usually] puts me in the mood to cook.  And that I did.

Admittedly, this is not the most exciting dish to blog about.  Pasta salad, macaroni salad, whatever you call it -- a routine summer staple.  Still, it's one of my favorite things to eat, and I have never made it from scratch.  I had fun making this today as I sort of made it up as I went along and it turned out delicious.  So, blog-worthy to me!

Sunday Pasta Salad
dressing adapted from  Taste of Home's recipe

Salad:

• 2 cups uncooked pasta -- I used mini penne
• 1 large celery stalk, diced
• 1 small-to-medium tomato, diced
• 1 green onion, chopped
• about half of a 16 oz. can of chickpeas, drained and rinsed
• 2 hard-boiled eggs, chopped
• Optional: 1/2 cup cooked chicken breast, cubed

Dressing:

• 1/2 cup mayonnaise
• 1/4 cup prepared ranch dressing (eyeball it)
• 3 tbsp milk
• 3 tbsp cider vinegar
• 1 tbsp dried minced onion
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp pepper
• 1/4 tsp dried parsley flakes
• 1 tsp prepared Dijon mustard
• 1 tsp sweet relish

1. Cook pasta according to package directions.  Drain and rinse with cold water.
2. While the pasta is cooking, mix together dressing ingredients and let sit.
3. Toss together the salad ingredients, and add the dressing. Mix well.

 Dressing.

 Salad ingredients ready to be tossed.  Not pictured: eggs which I added after this picture was taken, and the chicken, which I decided to add at the last minute after everything was mixed together.  The chicken was left-over from a stir-fry Paul made a couple nights ago, and I didn't want it to go to waste.  I labeled the chicken as "optional" in the recipe because I added it in order to make it more of a meal (I had not yet eaten lunch and was getting hungrier and hungrier as I was preparing it!).  Personally, if this is just a side dish, I'd leave the chicken out.  But it's up to you!

Yummy side-dish or, in my case today, a light lunch.

Hope you're enjoying your Sunday, rain or shine.

Cheers,
L