picnic pasta salad

I love a nice cold pasta salad on a hot summer day. I recently had a lovely BBQ picnic with some great friends. We enjoyed hamburgers, hotdogs, and all sorts of tasty picnic foods. I brought this pasta salad along and I loved it.

Ingredients

• 8 oz. whole wheat spiral pasta
• 1 red pepper
• 1 green pepper
• 1 yellow squash
• 1 zucchini
• 2 carrots
• 1 tomato
• peas
• 1/3 of an onion
• 1/2 cup raw almonds
• 1 oz. sharp white cheddar cheese, cubed
• 1 oz. sharp cheddar cheese, cubed
• italian salad dressing
  

Directions

1. Cook pasta according to directions on package
2. While pasta cooks, chop up all veggies (and technically fruits, right?) into tiny pieces
3. Rinse pasta with cold water and place in a large bowl
4. Add veggies (and fruits), cheese, and almonds to pasta
5. Pour salad dressing into bowl (just enough to moisten everything)
6. It's best if you let the salad sit in the refrigerator overnight
7. You may need to add a little more salad dressing to re-moisten the salad when you are ready to serve it
   

This recipe makes a GIANT bowl of pasta salad so be prepared for leftovers or just invite more people to your picnic!