Warm weather is here and Leslie Hachtel says, “It’s picnic time. Share your favorite picnic recipe.”

After moving to the South and then the Mid West, I have learned that pasta salad is more an east coast thing. Do you have pasta salad at your picnics and BBQs? When we lived in New Jersey, we always had a cold pasta salad and my husband makes one that is so simple and absolutely delish. I like to use the tricolor spiral pasta. It looks pretty and it hold the dressing really well, but any short pasta will work.

You will need:

• A Pound of cooked short Pasta
• 1/4 cup of finely diced red onion
• 1/4 cup of finely diced green bell pepper
• 1/4 cup of finely diced red or yellow bell pepper
• 3 celery stalks finely diced
• A packed of Italian dressing (The dry powder kind)
• Salt and pepper
• Premade Italian Dressing

This is super simple and so delish. Also, feel free to add any other vegetables that you love like carrots, radishes or even chopped cauliflower. Just dice them up about the same size as the onion and peppers.

Once you’ve cooked your pasta, mix all the vegetables with the noodles then sprinkle in the dry Italian dressing packet and mix. Add salt and pepper to taste. Just before you’re ready to serve drizzle over the premade Italian dressing, enough to coat all the pasta, maybe a little extra for what the noodles will absorb. Mix and serve!

I really love this for a hot picnic day.

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