Pasta Salads

[robbie3]

Hello everyone,

I want to make my lunches for work next week, but I am bored of doing sandwiches.

I want to make cold pasta salads, I have done all the usual like chicken & mayo, tuna & sweetcorn, prawn & marie rose etc.

I wondered if anyone had any ideas for nice and maybe unusual cold pasta dishes?

Thanks in advance

[leelapops]

Hey robbie, you could do a noodle salad with a stir-fry sauce and some nice crisp veggies (sugarsnap peas, peppers, onion) and/or pork, spaghetti with cold carbonara-type sauce and some ham, a spicy tomato pasta with sauce (shop-bought or homemade) and some yummy veggies and meat, a salmon and cucumber pasta salad (I hate cucumber, but apparently they go well together!) Hope you find something delicious. I love cold leftovers (mainly because I don't like microwaving!), so often I will have last night's bacon bolognese cold, or veggie curry, or stir fry. You could try a rice salad too with peas and sweetcorn and fish or meat. Mix it up! :)

[hammerman]

I usually do a big mix....red onion, peppers, peas, sweetcorn, tuna, pineapple, oregano and pasta mixed in with garlic mayo.

You could always do a pasta and bean salad...kidney beans, haricot beans, butter beans etc etc.....just sit next to an open window the next day !!!!!!

[Clanad]

For something a little different, try this:

8 oz. macaroni, cooked al dente
4 oz. baked apples, peeled, cored and diced
2 oz. golden raisins
4 oz. Cheddar cheese, finely grated
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
2 cups mayonnaise
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. black pepper

Raddichio leaves to serve and parsley sprigs to garnish
Prep:
Arrange raddichio leaves on a platter.
Using a large salad bowl, combine macaroni, apples, golden raisins and cheese. In another bowl, thoroughly mix together cinnamon, mayonnaise, salt and black pepper. Pour dressing over salad and mix well.
Spoon apple and macaroni salad onto raddichio leaves. Chill for � hour and serve cold, garnished with parsley, as a side dish to meat or poultry, or as a main course with crusty rolls. (We've used several different types of pasta in this recipe, including spaghetti) Best of luck!

[annie0000]

I usually use one of those little tubs you get with little squares of feta cheese with garlic cloves or olives in a olive oil dressing and just mix it through the pasta or salad with a few cherry tomatoes thrown in - nice and easy!

[Scarlett]

I like pasta, chick peas and pesto. Dead quick to make. Boil tha pasta, add a swish of pesto and some tinned chick peas!! You could also add some sliced avocado or cherry tomatoes- but the avocado may go brown if you leave it too long. Still tastes nice though.

[robbie3]

Thanks for your suggestions everyone, some great ideas there!

[POLLIANNA]

Boil up some pasta shells and let them go cold. Pour in a tin of tuna, a chopped onion, sweetcorn and some marie rose sauce. Mmmmm !!

[society]

Be careful of the dressing you use in the salad. Because of extreme heat, the salad can spoil. Also don't use onions, they tend to spoil food quickly.