Veggie-Bowtie Pasta Salad

Doesn't this look pretty? Weird, huh? Food looking pretty. Now I've been making pasta salad for a long time. It's super easy, you can make it in mass quantities and in general people like it. This is a new one I've tried and I'm hoping it'll be a big hit tonight!

Here's the Ingredients. You'll notice in the finished product picture above that there is a lack of feta cheese. I decided to serve it on the side this time, as sometime people aren't a fan!

Ingredients;

1 lb. Farfalle Pasta (Bowties, feel free to use any kind really, but a bigger pasta with nooks and crannies is best!)

1/4 cup of WHITE balsamic vinegar (I'll explain later)

1/4 cup of Extra Virgin Olive Oil

1 clove of garlic

salt and pepper to taste

Veggies, I used;

1 red bell pepper

1 green pepper

1 yellow pepper

a container of cherry tomatoes

1 cucumber

green onions

Instructions;

1. Chop your veggies. Let me introduce you to my most favorite cooking gadget... this chopper.

If you don't have one, you seriously need to go out and buy one today. It makes prep time SO much faster. I timed myself this time and it literally took me under 5 minutes to chop an entire cucumber, red pepper, green pepper, and yellow pepper. It really couldn't be simpler and I love how it makes everything exactly the same size. Now I've seen these gadgets at William-Sonoma but I'm sure you can find it elsewhere for cheaper!

I digress, chop your veggies, make sure you've got a decent mix of color. For some added flavor I finely sliced some green onions and added some minced garlic, just one clove as I'm serving two preggo mama's and a nursing mama tonight.... don't want to cause any issues! :)

See, perfect similar sized pieces! And it comes with a smaller grate to make tinier pieces as well!

2. While you're chopping your veggies, cook your pasta. I don't normally do this, but salt your water for the pasta. I've found with the pasta salads, the cold noodles taste better with a hint of salt. Drain the noodles and rinse them with COLD water. Drain as much water off as you can.

3. In a big bowl toss the pasta, veggies, onions, and garlic together. Add 1/4 cup each of white balsamic vinegar and olive oil. I just read this little tidbit, that when you're using balsamic vinegar in a pasta dish, you should use the white version so it doesn't give the pasta that nasty brown look, cool, right?! Oh, and throw some black pepper in there too if you'd like!

4. Now this step is important. Mix it all together, cover it, AND LET IT SIT IN THE REFRIGERATOR AS LONG AS POSSIBLE. Like 24 hours would be best, but who thinks out their meals that well, right? Anyways, when you taste how well all the flavors combine, you'll thank me for it!

Enjoy!

SIDE NOTES!

-This amount will easily serve 8 adults with leftovers. Adjust the recipe as necessary for the amount of people you'll be serving.

-If you're not a fan of balsamic vinegar, try it with 1/4-1/2 cup of Zesty Italian dressing. That's my go to!