Light and Healthy Summer Pasta Salad

Light and Healthy Summer Pasta Salad ~ Summer’s best vegetables take on a twenty minute prep time for a light and easy side dish. Throw in some grilled chicken and this side dish can quickly be scaled up for a fast and easy dinner.

This is a healthy recipe that will win over even those who refuse to eat raw vegetables unless they are dunked in ranch dressing. . . Ahem, not mentioning any picky eater names here.

In order to disguise the fact that the vegetables are raw, I dice them into tiny bits to mitigate the crunchy raw texture.

I use to make this pasta salad with a mayonnaise and vinegar dressing that is often used on broccoli salad, but since discovering Briannas Poppy Seed Dressing I use this instead. It’s healthier, easier and a time saver.

A few notes:

• Prep and dice vegetables while your pasta is boiling.
• Change out the zucchini for a cucumber for an even cooler summer flavor.
• You can assemble the summer pasta salad three days in advance and keep it in a tightly sealed container without compromising the crispness of the vegetables, just be sure to use the freshest vegetables. Add and toss the dressing prior to serving. After the dressing has been added the summer pasta salad can keep up to two days in a tightly sealed container.

Light and Healthy Pasta Salad
{Printer Version}

Serves 8-10 people
Ingredients:

16 oz pasta, corkscrew
1 large red bell pepper
2 zucchini (or 1 cucumber)
1 yellow squash
1 small broccoli head
¼ cup Briannas Poppy Seed Dressing

Instructions:
1. Boil pasta according to package instructions.
2. Wash and dice vegetables.
3. Toss pasta with diced vegetables and Briannas Poppy Seed Dressing.