Chopped Pasta Salad

By á-25138

Ingredients

• 1 head of butter lettuce, chopped
• 1 head of romaine lettuce, chopped
• 1 bag of coleslaw
• 1 bunch of broccoli
• 1 container of red grape tomatoes, sliced in half
• 2 cucumbers, diced
• 1 red bell pepper, diced
• 1 yellow bell pepper, diced
• 1 orange bell pepper, diced
• 1 red onion, diced
• 6 hard boiled eggs, peeled, chopped
• 4 oz sharp cheese, grated
• 4 oz jack cheese, grated
• 1 box of rotini pasta
• 1/4 c. extra virgin olive oil
• 1/4 c. rice wine vinegar
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1 tsp. black pepper
• 1 tsp. garlic powder
• 1 tsp. creole seasoning
• crispy bacon (optional)
• salad dressings of your choice

Details

Adapted from creolecontessa.blogspot.com

Preparation

Step 1

Put pasta water on first, top of lid so water boils quickly. Once pasta water is up to boil, salt the pasta water with about 1 teaspoon of salt. Boil pasta according to pasta box directions, drain pasta and rinse with cold water to stop the cooking process and set aside.

Add broccoli florets to pasta water and cook 3 minutes, remove quickly and shock in bowl of ice cold water to stop the cooking process and set aside.

Chop lettuces and soak for about 5 minutes in bowl of water to remove any remaining dirt. Lift lettuce out of bowl allowing any dirt to drop to the bottom, repeat this step if needed. Put lettuces and coleslaw in salad spinner and spin until dry, put lettuce in a large bowl and set aside.

Slice tomatoes in half put in salad spinner, chop bell peppers and onions add to salad spinner.

Slice ends off of cucumbers and discard. Slice cucumbers in half and with a teaspoon remove all the seeds out of the cucumbers. Slice cucumbers into strips and dice into small pieces. Add to salad spinner.

Chop of the large end of the broccoli and cut florets into bit size pieces, add to salad spinner.
Spin all the vegetables until dry and add to large salad bowl.

Top salad with pasta, egg, and cheese. Add garlic powder, black pepper and creole seasonings. Pour rice wine vinegar and mix salad. Add olive oil and mix salad. Top with bacon if you like.

Note:
This is my base salad, sometimes I omit the pasta, sometimes I add chicken breast or shrimp. Please take this base salad and make it your own. If you don't like bacon (who doesn't) don't add it. Also, I serve this with extra salad dressing on the side. My baby girl does not like dressing she just loves the vinaigrette, I on the other hand likes to add ranch dressing to my salad.