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Wednesday, April 4, 2012

Confetti Pasta Salad

Weather here in Colorado has been wonderfully warm and sunny! I have been enjoying more walks around my neighborhood and in the park across the street as well as other spots around town.
Many people have been out picnicking in the park. I was hoping to plan one for us but the weather went from sunny in the 80’s to snowy in the 30’s. I am not complaining because we really need the moisture or the wildfires will be bad this summer.  Still, I am looking forward to the end of the week when it is supposed to be sunny and warm again! If we do pack a picnic lunch, I will make this salad again to take with us!


This is kind of a vintage pasta salad. I remember eating macaroni salad similar to this when I was a kid. The macaroni salad did not have as many veggies as mine does so this one is updated vintage J
Since this is a vintage salad, I put it in my antique bee-hive bowl which was handed down
from my great grandmother to my mother to me.


Confetti Pasta Salad

1 box ditalini pasta or small elbows or small shells
1 small red onion
2  bell peppers of various colors, I used half a pepper of each red, yellow, orange and green
2 pieces of celery
2 TBSP olive oil
¼ -2/3 cup reduced fat mayonnaise, begin with 1/4 cup and add more if needed 
2-3 tsp mustard, Dijon, honey or whatever you like
1-2 TBSP white wine vinegar
1 tsp salt (more or less to taste)
½ tsp parika
½ tsp. thyme
1/2 tsp lemon pepper


Start to boil a large pot of salted water. Once it reaches a rolling boil, add pasta.
Clean and chop all vegetables into small cube-like pieces of somewhat equal size.  

In a large bowl, mix the rest of the ingredients together starting with about a ¼ cup of mayonnaise and 1 TBSP of vinegar, you can add more later if needed. I like to use maynaise made with olive oil but any light mayo will work.
Once the pasta is done, drain it and rinse with cool water. Let it cool a bit and then add pasta to the dressing.  Mix well, if it is dry add a bit more mayonnaise and vinegar. I usually use about a 1/3 - ½  cup of mayo but it just depends. If you get to a half cup of mayonnaise and it is still not very creamy, try adding a bit more olive oil.

Add the vegetables and blend. Refrigerate for at least an hour but better for several hours.

Here are a few pictures from a walk we took near my husband’s work place. I hope to bring lunch with us on our next walk. I hope you have a picnic in your near future and perhaps you can take this salad with you!




Great Heron

Gadwell ducks

Turtles sunning






17 comments:

  1. Mmm. I love pasta salads! The flavors and ingredients in this one look killer. Yum!

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  2. I would really dive into this salad!! It looks colorful and delicious! :)

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    1. Thanks Ramona, I am glad you like it. I hope you enjoy it whenever you make it and that you are having some lovely spring weather where you are.

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  3. I am not a pasta salad fan, but I just love the pictures of the wildlife! :)

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    1. This comment has been removed by the author.

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    2. Thank you, Kiri! I was pretty pleased to see so much and plan on walking that trail often this spring to see what we can find. It is so close but I saw a lot more there than on my typical walk across from my house. There are beaver dams there, too, but I did not get a glimpse of them this time. Hope you are enjoying spring!

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  4. oh, if only i had a bowl of that salad, i would eat it right now this minute! beautiful pictures of the turtles, ducks and heron. how nice to work close to scenes like that!

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    1. Yes, we are so lucky to have beautiful spots through out our little city. Glad you like the salad and hope you can have a bowl soon :-)

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  5. Look at the birdies! So pretty :)

    Lovely salad too. Great flavor combos and I'm digging the sneaking white wine vinegar. Puckerlicious!

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    1. I bet you get lots of colorful little birds where you are at. We do have some cool ones here, love the herons. Yesterday I saw a bald eagle, which used to always be around but have gotten more scarse as the city grows.
      Yep, I do like adding vinegar to salads, not too much but just enough to make the salad have a little zing :-) Glad you like it!

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  6. That's a heck of a weather change! It's been plain old hot here in Georgia with no relief in sight!

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    1. Like many mountain states, our weather changes at the drop of a hat. One day, I sent my kids to school in shorts and had to bring their winter jackets to pick them up since it was a blizzard! Today, we have nice spring like drizzle after days of 80 degrees. I do like the break!

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  7. YUM! This looks like a classic macaroni salad...one of my faves!!!

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    1. So glad you like it. I think it is pretty classic macaroni salad too. I used to get something like this at a favorite restaurant but now they all taste bland and boring.

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  8. Would not mind a bite at all - what a beautiful delicious salad :D

    Cheers
    Choc Chip Uru
    Latest: Victorian Spone [Pan] Cake

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  9. That salad is such fun! Love the colourful theme, and perfect for picnics .. and what stunning country side you have. Thanks too for your lovely comment on my blog. A. :)

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