Pasta Salad

There are lots of things I am loving about living alone, and at the top of my list is exploring cooking and baking. I have made lots of yummy things but this pasta salad recipe by far has been the best and the EASIEST thing I have made thus far. Now this certainly is not for those that are on a diet. The only changes I would suggest in making this if you are on a diet is using whole wheat pasta...otherwise, just make it, I promise you will love it.

First off, the main ingredient is..............................MAYO. Up until I was about 18 years old I HATED mayo. I thought it was so nasty and so unnecessary (for example in sandwiches, for moisture I would always use a vinegarette). Anyhoo, I started liking mayonnaise gradually and now I like it. But I have a rule...it cannot be clumpy. On sandwiches it has to be spread perfectly, the thought of a large chunk of mayo in my mouth makes me want to vom vom.

So on to the pasta salad. I have always loved pasta salads that were vinegar based, but recently I tried one with mayo. I tried to recreate it yesterday and I blew myself away. I promise it is absolutely delicious and it is eaten cold, so just make it, stick it in the fridge, and eat when you want.

Here it is: (PS I am obvi no chef, so work with me)

Ingredients:

1 Box of the colorful fusili pasta (I use this one b/c its the traditional pasta in deli pasta salads)

1 cup of Mayo

a few gollups of red wine vinegar (I know...I know... we don't want the sauce soupy, so use your head when adding)

1/2 a white onion, chopped (you can use a red onion if you want)

1 red bell pepper, chopped

lots of salt and pepper!!!!!!!

Cook pasta al dente. Make sure to add salt and olive oil to pasta water before boiling). While pasta is boiling, chop the red pepper and the onion, set aside. In the same (now empty) pot you used to boil the pasta, add the drained pasta plus rest of the ingredients. Add more vinegar if you like that taste (I personally love it). You can eat it right away (it is hard to resist). Put the rest in the fridge and eat straight out of it.

***Here is a trick, if you have Italian Dressing in your fridge (from Wishbone or w/e) you can use that instead of the red wine vinegar. The added bonus is the rest of the seasoning in it***

Other things you can add include feta cheese, celery, sun dried tomatoes, etc. Let me know if you try it!