One of my absolute favorite things to make during the hot Summer months is a little cold pasta dish that I like to call Spaghetti Salad. Actually, I like to call it that because my best friend’s mom called it that when she introduced me to it and taught me how to make it (thanks Tracy!). It’s not a particularly hard or complicated thing to make.. but for something so simple, it’s absolutely refreshing and addicting to munch on!
SO first of all, here is what you need:
A box of spaghetti (obviously?), little tomatoes or a regular big ol’ tomato (in which case I would only use half), a cucumber, a bell pepper, a can of baby corn, a can of chopped or whole black olives, and one bottle of Zesty Italian dressing. Now, of course, if you despise black olives or something you can leave them out. I believe when I first learned to make this I put chopped onion in mine, but I decided to eliminate that later due to my own personal preference!
Now, go ahead and get your spaghetti cooking on the stove and start chopping! This is the most annoying part of the whole process: chopping everything into tiny pieces.
See my handy electronic can opener to the left- hehe!
Your spaghetti will finish cooking long before you’ve finished, unless you are a chopping machine. So drain your pasta as you normally would, set it in the sink, and run cold water over it. Flip it around and make sure the cold water cools it down as much as possible. I use my little sink sprayer for this and it works well! Shake out the remaining water and let it drain while you finish.
Once you’re through cutting everything up bring your pasta over to your veggies and the big bowl you’re going to put it all in- which should have a lid that seals well! Take a handful of pasta and drop it in the bowl. Take a handful of veggies, and drop it in on top of the pasta. Then, squeeze a little bit of zesty italian dressing in on top of that. Repeat until you’re all out! I also sprinkle salt and pepper on each layer. The last few times I’ve made this I’ve ended up with about 1/4 dressing left. You can always add more later!
After you’re all done- seal the lid on tight (I accidentally half-assed the lid thing once- BIG MESS!) and shake the contents to mix everything up. Put it in the fridge to chill for a bit before eating and make sure to shake it a little before serving to mix up what has settled to the bottom. Enjoy! (I literally eat this for lunch for at least a week straight when I make it!)
I just call it pasta salad, but I LOVE it! I usually use spiral pasta instead of spaghetti though because it's less messy for me to eat. And I have the same cutting board as you!
Haha, well it is just pasta salad really. But, there's something different and yummier about using spaghetti. I don't know why! And I use veggies that are kind of different to a regular pasta salad. 🙂
Might try this for Billy's lunches – looks pretty easy/healthy, I like it! 😀
You could even make it healthier by using whole wheat pasta – but I don't really love the taste of it so I don't bother.
My mom used to make this all the time (though she only added tomato and cucumber). I remember how easy and delicious it was. I think I'm going to have to pick up the ingredients to make this myself as I love having tons of leftovers for effortless lunches. Thanks for sharing the recipe (and giving me the fantastic idea to add in other yummy veggies).
You're quite welcome! 🙂 🙂
We make this all the time too! We also add artichoke hearts, broken up feta cheese, and sometimes broccoli!
Those sound like delicious additions! I love those ideas – may have to try that sometime!