Andi's Pasta Salad W/Blue Cheese,broccoli and Grapes
- 1 (12 -16 ounce) package rotini pasta, cooked and drained, cooled completely (corkscrew shape)
- 1 bunch fresh broccoli, florets only, cut into bite-sized pieces
- 2 cups white seedless grapes or 2 cups red seedless grapes, halved, approximately, to taste
- 1 (15 ounce) can black olives (small or medium size)
- 12-1 cup red onion, sliced thinly or finely chopped
- 1 12-2 cups chunky-style bleu cheese salad dressing, approximately to taste, do not use fat free (such as Marie's)
- salt, to taste
- fresh ground black pepper, to taste
- crumbled cooked bacon or sunflower seeds, optional garnish
- Combine pasta, broccoli, grapes, olives, and red onion in a large bowl.
- Pour all of the blue cheese dressing into a separate mixing bowl.
- Add enough of the reserved canning liquid from the olives to thin the dressing enough to your liking (*note:ifyou forgot to save the canning liquid, just use some cold water)- you may not need the full 1/4 cup, or you may need a little more- it depends upon how thick the bleu cheese dressing you purchased was.
- The idea is to make the dressing thin enough to evenly coat all of the veggies& pasta lightly.
- Mix thinned dressing with the veggie& pasta mixture and toss to coat well.
- Chill at least 2 hours or overnight to allow pasta to absorb the dressing a bit- the chilled salad will appear dry.
- Taste for seasonings- you may add a little salt& pepper if desired, but it may not be necessary depending upon the dressing brand you selected.
- Toss salad again before serving.
- Garnish if desired.
- Garnishing IDEAS: If you like a little crunch, please feel free to garnish this with some crumbled cooked bacon or some sunflower seeds- sometimes I have even stirred them into the salad itself.
rotini pasta, fresh broccoli, grapes, black olives, red onion, chunkystyle bleu cheese salad dressing, salt, fresh ground black pepper, bacon
Taken from www.food.com/recipe/andis-pasta-salad-w-blue-cheese-broccoli-and-grapes-48631 (may not work)