Summer Salads

Happy Summer Break!  It feels good to have a break from our busy school year routines.  Speaking of breaks, I'm going to switch to blogging Monday, Wednesday, Friday this Summer.  I'll still be here and on instagram (@polkadottyplace), but I want to make sure I leave myself plenty of time to enjoy my kids and my family this Summer.

Now let's move on to some delicious recipes.  I'm all about fresh, colorful, quick recipes for Summer.

I really love recipes that you can make once and eat for several days in a row. 

I made up a recipe for a yummy pasta salad over the weekend.  It was so simple and so good.  I almost always have these ingredients on hand which means that this will be an easy side for me to whip up all summer long.

Italian Pasta Salad

1 box mini bow tie pasta
1 c chopped turkey pepperoni
1/4 c sliced black olives
1/4 c finely chopped sharp white cheddar cheese
2 mini cucumbers sliced very thin
purple onion to taste
You could easily add in sweet peppers or tomatoes
1/2 c Olive Garden Italian Dressing*

*This dressing is SO good!  Don't substitute it.

Cook the pasta.  Drain and let it cool.  (You can do this step ahead of time and refrigerate it)
Chop up all the add ins and pour the dressing on top.  Stir until well combined.  Let it sit for at least an hour before serving and add more dressing if the noodles absorb it. 

Here are a few other Summer salad ideas from the archives:

Grilled Romaine Salad (recipe here)

Fresh Avocado Salsa (recipe here)

Fresh Cucumber Salad (recipe here)

Quesadilla Explosion Salad (recipe here)

Cheeseburger Salad (recipe here)

Apple Salad (recipe here)

What's your favorite summer salad to make?