Ordering Disorder
with Chris Jordan
Ordering Disorder is about making every day run more smoothly in small specific ways like quick, easy, and nutritious recipes, tips for prepareing lunches, and organizing tips, which add up to big changes
To learn more about Chris, check out her profile on
Work It, Mom! and read her blog at notesfromthetrenches.com.
The Summer Barbeque Recipes: Pasta Salad
Categories: Cooking, Entertaining, side dishes, summer living
(I will add photos later. I am still cooking my food for this weekend, but wanted to get the recipes up since I have had so many requests for the Fourth of July recipes. I am also cooking entirely on my outdoor grill. Have I mentioned here that we are in the middle of a kitchen remodel? We are at the point right now where we have no appliances. Woooo hooooo. Or something like that.)
Along with the potato salad it is a law that you must have pasta salad. Yes, really. I generally make more than one but this one is an old favorite stand-by that everyone loves.
It conforms to the trifecta of a good recipe:
1) Easy.
2) Can be made in advance, actually it is preferable to make it the day before so that the flavors can meld together.
3) Loved by everyone.
1 (16 ounce) package of pasta, I like to use the tri-color ones
can black olives, chopped
1 small yellow onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
16 ounces mozzarella cheese, cubed*
cherry tomatoes, halved
1/4 pound Genoa salami, cut into bite sized pieces
1/4 pound pepperoni, pizza style, cut into bite sized pieces
3/4 cup olive oil**
1/2 cup balsamic vinegar**
ground black pepper to taste**
(fresh mozzarella is delicious, but you can use the regular kind too)
(*you can substitute your favorite Italian dressing instead. Buy an extra bottle to leave on the buffet table for people who want to add a little more zing to their pasta salad.)
Cook the pasta.
Drain the pasta and run under cool water.
Toss all the ingredients together in a bowl.
Refrigerate until your guests arrive.
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this sounds delicious! I haven’t made a pasta salad in ages. I think it’s time.
Daisy | July 4th, 2008 at 12:05 am
Mine’s a variation of that.
I use shredded cooked chicken breasts instead of the Salami & pepperoni. I also dice up 1/2 of a green apple, halve some green seedless grapes, dice 1/2 carrot, dice 1/4 celery and leave everything else the same as yours and let sit in the fridge overnight.
The contrasts of sweet vs sour, crunchy vs soft and all of the textures is a big hit every picnic and is the top request every time my 5 kids (25-20 years old come home to visit).
Mark | July 7th, 2008 at 2:09 pm