Whip It Up Week 1 - PASTA

I went ahead and made my dish a little early as this week will be full of nieces visiting, possible cabinet painting (er...maybe), quilting, driving to and from Houston, and possible carpet cleaning, and lots of who knows what. I can't guarantee I'll get a NEW recipe in the mix, so I made a new (to me) Pepperoni Pasta Salad for our Independence Day Picnic.

Ingredients

• 2 cups rotini pasta, uncooked (I used shells because that's what I had in the pantry and they were wheat-free)
  

• 1/2 teaspoon salt

• 1 onion, chopped (organic)

• 1 cucumber, chopped (organic - picked fresh from my garden that morning)

• 1 cup grape tomato, cut in fourths (I used the organic tomatoes we got in our produce delivery that day...cherry I believe)

• 1 cup pepperoni, cut in pieces (I substituted lower-fat Turkey pepperoni. I had this left over from pizza making)

• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder (I used diced garlic)

• 1/2 teaspoon Italian seasoning

• 1 cup Italian dressing (I used Newman's Own Lite Italian)

Directions:

• Cook pasta in salted water until a la dente stage. Drain well. Cut cucumber, leaving portion of peeling on for color (I took off all the peel, but you can certainly leave it on).

• Cut tomatoes in fourths. In a large bowl, mix drained pasta and remaining ingredients.

• Marinate for at least 5 hours in refrigerator for flavors to blend. (I recommend overnight.)
  

Whip It Up Questions:

• Was the recipe easy to follow? Very easy to follow!

• Did the dish taste good? Yes! It was very refreshing on a hot July evening.

• Would you make it again? Yes, I would, but I think I would add some low-fat bacon bits and maybe some red pepper flakes in addition to or in place of the pepperoni. I might also try some additional vegetables, too. I think it would be good with some fresh basil and some fresh mozzarella, too!