Jun 30 2009
Pesto Pasta Salad and Broccoli Slaw
In a previous post, I mentioned that my husband isn’t big on mayo-based dishes. No potato salad. No macaroni salad. No cole slaw. Sigh… makes you sad just thinking about it, doesn’t it? No worries, I have some great mayo-free alternative side dishes that are perfect for picnics, barbecues, casual get togethers with friends, any occasion really. These are not precise recipes, because I generally don’t measure when I make them. But they are both the kind of dish you can make to your liking. Enjoy!
Pesto Pasta Salad
1 box bowtie pasta (or whatever kind of pasta you like/have on hand)
1 container prepared pesto (or you can make your own if you want)
Shredded parmesan cheese
Pine nuts
Cook pasta; drain, rinse and let it cool to room temperature. Mix in pesto and as much parmesan cheese as you want. Top with pinenuts (if you want it to be pretty — you can always just stir them in with the pesto and cheese, too). Chill and serve.
Tah dah!! This is a pasta salad both Hubbz and I can get behind and even though there are usually both pinenuts and parmesan cheese in prepared pesto, you can never have too much of either of those things, IMHO, so load ‘em in! You can also serve this warm or add chicken to make it a main dish (like I did for lunch today). So versatile!!
Broccoli Slaw Salad
One bag broccoli slaw (like cole slaw only with broccoli, carrots and other veggies instead of cabbage)
One red and one yellow bell pepper
Sunflower kernels
Poppy seed dressing
Empty contents of broccoli slaw package into a large bowl. Slice up bell peppers into small pieces. Add them to the slaw, along with as sunflower seeds as you like, top with poppy seed dressing (again, to your liking) and toss ingredients together. Voila!!
If you don’t have red and yellow peppers, any kind of bell pepper will work. Actually, you don’t have to add extra veggies, at all, but I like them for the color and texture. If you’ve never had broccoli slaw, get thee to the produce section and buy some today. It’s a great summer side dish, even for people who don’t eat broccoli (like Hubbz) and it’s a fantastic altermative to a boring old lettuce salad.
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