Veggie Italian Pasta Salad

I believe I told you how I like to create lunch for the week for my daughter. She doesn't eat lunch at school because she doesn't trust it!

Actually, I started this because of her food allergies. I always felt it was safer for me to prepare her lunch because I refused to take a chance with her health.

As she's gotten older she takes responsibility for what she eats and from whom. She's so used to eating nice healthy lunches she doesn't want what the school has to offer.

She told me that it's just junk and doesn't taste good and they can't be using real mozzarella on those pizzas.

I asked her how she knows this, if she's never eaten it...lol. She told me she tasted her friends food and it was straight yuck!

That leads me to my Veggie Italian Pasta Salad. I love to make this salad because I can load it up with veggies!

You can easily add a little chopped Genoa salami or ham if you want meat in it. I think the more veggies the better.

This salad last about 4 days in the fridge and I toss it everyday before serving.

Believe me you're going to love this. Add your favorite veggies to customize it to your taste.

Enjoy!

Veggie Italian Pasta Salad

Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 10 minutes
Total Time: 20 minutes
Servings: 6-8

Ingredients:

3/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/3 cup of rice wine vinegar
2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
1 lb. pasta
1 bell pepper, diced
1 small red onion, diced
1 cucumber, seeded, unpeeled if organic, peel if non organic, diced
1 stalk celery, diced
1 cup grape tomatoes
1 cup frozen corn, defrosted
1 cup diced jack cheese, diced 1/2 inch chunks
1 cup diced mozzarella cheese, diced 1/2 inch chunks
1 teaspoon black pepper
1 teaspoon creole seasoning
1 teaspoon onion powder
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon dried oregano, crushed
pinch of crushed red pepper

Directions:

Bring a large pot of salted water to boil. Cook pasta according to package directions, drain, rinse in cold water, drain again, lightly coat in a little olive oil to prevent sticking.

To prepare vinaigrette, mix rice wine vinegar and apple cider vinegar, olive oil and all spices in a jar, cover and shake well.

Place all salad ingredients into the bowl with the vinaigrette and toss well. Chill until ready to serve. Enjoy!