Garden Fresh Pasta Salad with Creamy Mustard Vinaigrette

The other day one of my sweet neighbors called to see if we needed any zucchini. Yes! My Mom stir fried a few, then I used the rest for pasta salad. I wanted to try a new dressing, so I sent Jake out to the herb garden (pot). HA. I KNOW, I keep mentioning it. You would laugh your head off if you saw how tiny it is in reality. He snipped off some basil, oregano and thyme. Bought some beautiful green onions at the farmers market. Yummy. Cooked up some pasta I carried all the way back from Rome. Oh, my. It was good. This was not your mothers pasta. Even dried, it was better than any made in the U.S. of A. Decided to make the dressing with things I love. Guess what? It was so, so good. Try it next time you make dressing. You just need to use one part vinegar to two or three parts oil. Then just start pulling items out of your refrig or garden... for flavor, in my case fresh herbs and Dijon mustard, salt and pepper. A little mayo for a creamy effect. Original. Fresh. Summer. This is it.

Garden Fresh Pasta Salad with Creamy Mustard Vinaigrette

printable recipe

Dressing:

1/3 cup olive oil

1/4 cup Cider vinegar

3-4 tablespoons mayonnaise

2 teaspoons Dijon mustard ( grainy or regular)

1/2 cup fresh basil, chopped

1/4 cup fresh oregano, chopped

1/4 cup fresh thyme, chopped

kosher salt

fresh ground pepper

Blend oil and vinegar together with whisk. Add all remaining ingredients. Continue to whisk until all ingredients are mixed well. Season with salt and pepper.

Salad:

3/4 lb pasta, cooked al dente, drained and rinsed with cold water

1 small zucchini, sliced thin

1/2 red pepper, chopped

2 green onions, sliced, green part only

1 cup fresh spinach

1 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Place all ingredients in large bowl. Toss with dressing. If not serving immediately, refrigerate. When ready to serve, toss again, if pasta is too dry, mix in a little more olive oil.

Tips:

-Try buying an imported dried pasta at an Italian market, or use fresh pasta. If you live in Utah, Tony Caputos or Frank Granato Importing Co. are good sources.

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