Ranch Pasta Salad

During the months of January-March at my office we have dinners each Thursday as a reward to all our workers for a job well done. Most of these meals the office provides the main dish and everyone brings all the remaining dishes. I guess you could call it a partial “carry-in” dinner. I don’t know all I know is there is always amazing food and tons of it! I love this because you can try out each other’s dishes and just enjoy. I also love it because when I find a dish I really like I try to see what I can do to it to either add a Tiffany spin on it or to cut some of the calories out of it!

This particular recipe was awesome. The lady who brought it said it was super easy and when I asked for the recipe she said there wasn’t really one. Just make pasta of your choice, veggies of your choice, pepperoni, and cheese, and then top it all with Ranch Dressing.

Well that is simple enough and it was great. But with me trying to lead a healthier lifestyle, I thought I could surely I could redo the ranch dressing and it still be really tasty. Well this is the result of my efforts. It is a great summer salad, nice and light and refreshing. Plus with the pepperoni and cheese in there Charlot loved it as well. Give this bad boy a try next time you need a quick and easy side dish!

Ranch Garden Pasta Salad

1 box garden rotini

1 bell pepper (I used ½ of a green ½ of a red), diced

1 bunch green onion, thinly sliced

4 stalks of celery, diced

1 pint of cherry tomatoes halved

1 bag of mini pepperonis

2 cups shredded cheddar cheese

Dressing

1 cup plain Greek yogurt

½ cup sour cream

¼ cup milk (more if needed)

1 tsp vinegar

1 tsp sugar

1 package ranch dressing mix

Salt and pepper to taste

Cook noodles according to package directions. When they have cooled for a few minutes add all your veggie, meat, and cheese ingredients.

In a mason jar with a lid combine you dressing ingredients in the jar. Close the lid and shake shake shake!!! Taste for seasoning and add more milk if you think the dressing is too thick.

Pour over the pasta mixture. Gently stir to coat everything. Chill this salad for at least a couple hours overnight is even better!