Italian Pasta Salad

I've been on a pasta and potato salad kick lately. It's been really hot (and dry) here in Indiana. The beauty of salads is that I can make them in the morning when it is still cool out. Then, there's no additional work at dinner time. Perfect!

I found the original recipe for this salad here. I made a few minor changes.

Makes: 8-12 servings
Prep time: 10 minutes
Cook time: 15 minutes
Printable Recipe

Ingredients:

• 1 pound dry pasta (I used farfalle, but bow-tie would also work well)
• 2 cups cherry tomatoes, halved
• 8 ounces fresh mushrooms, sliced
• 2/3 cup Kalamata olives, pitted and sliced
• 1 medium green bell pepper, diced
• 1 cup balsamic vinaigrette salad dressing (I used Paul Newman's)
• 1/4 cup mayonnaise
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• Salt and pepper

1. Cook pasta per package instructions. Drain well and let cool. Transfer to a large bowl.

2. Add the tomatoes, mushrooms, olives and bell pepper to the pasta and fold to combine.

3. Whisk together the salad dressing, mayo, and sugar. Add to the pasta mixture and fold to combine.

4. Season with salt and pepper. You may have to add a bit more dressing the next morning after the salad sits in the fridge.