Dutch Girl Pasta Salad

 When you think about the taste of certain ingredients you like together, it is easy then to make a pasta salad. I have a plethora of recipes for pasta salad, but this one is my favorite.

You can use tricolor rotini or plain, or whole wheat, whatever kind you like, but the important thing is not to cook it too long then plunge the pasta into icy water to stop the cooking process.

Dutch Girl Pasta Salad

2 cups uncooked pasta
1/2 cup halved grape tomato
2-3 green onions chopped
1/4 yellow pepper, chopped finely
1/4 red pepper, chopped finely
10 Kalamata olives, pitted and quartered
2 ounces Parmesan cheese, chopped into tiny cubes
2 ounces Asiago cheese, chopped into tiny cubes
fresh basil leaves, parsley, chives, oregano, basil flowers, thyme, chopped or torn
A few capers
1/2-2/3 cup oil vinegar dressing, homemade or (use sun dried tomato dressing from Kraft)

Cook pasta in a large pot of salted boiling water until "al dente", soft but still semi-firm in the centre of the pasta, drain, plunge into icy water to stop the cooking process. Meanwhile, wash, prepare and chop veggies,cheese, herbs and olives, let marinade in dressing while pasta cools off, when pasta is cool to the touch, mix with other ingredients, let stand at room temperature for at least 20 minutes for the flavours to develop, serve and enjoy.

Oil and vinegar dressing-in a 1/2 liter jar with a lid mix 1/2 cup olive oil with garlic, salt and pepper, add 3/4 cup white wine vinegar,you could also add, 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes and 2-3 tablespoons finely chopped sun dried tomato, to add a bit of zest to the pasta salad.