Andi's Pasta Salad W/Blue Cheese,broccoli and Grapes

"This recipe is my recollection of a recipe my best friend's sister used to make. She had explained it to me once and I quickly scribbled down the ingredients and brief description of how she said she made it. I have made this several times and it is one of those "to taste" recipes. I sometimes garnish this with crumbled cooked bacon or a little Parmesan cheese. Please don't substitute reduced fat or fat free dressing - I tried doing this once and was very unhappy with the results. I prefer Marie's brand for the dressing (usually sold near produce in a small jar..I use pretty much the whole jar usually), but you could also use homemade. Prep time allows for cooking the pasta. Plan ahead - this needs to chill."
 
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Ready In:
40mins
Ingredients:
9
Serves:
10
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ingredients

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directions

  • Combine pasta, broccoli, grapes, olives, and red onion in a large bowl.
  • Pour all of the blue cheese dressing into a separate mixing bowl.
  • Add enough of the reserved canning liquid from the olives to thin the dressing enough to your liking (*note:ifyou forgot to save the canning liquid, just use some cold water)- you may not need the full 1/4 cup, or you may need a little more- it depends upon how thick the bleu cheese dressing you purchased was.
  • The idea is to make the dressing thin enough to evenly coat all of the veggies& pasta lightly.
  • Mix thinned dressing with the veggie& pasta mixture and toss to coat well.
  • Chill at least 2 hours or overnight to allow pasta to absorb the dressing a bit- the chilled salad will appear dry.
  • Taste for seasonings- you may add a little salt& pepper if desired, but it may not be necessary depending upon the dressing brand you selected.
  • Toss salad again before serving.
  • Garnish if desired.
  • Garnishing IDEAS: If you like a little crunch, please feel free to garnish this with some crumbled cooked bacon or some sunflower seeds- sometimes I have even stirred them into the salad itself.

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Reviews

  1. Delicious, I made half a recipe as there is only 3 of us. Made it just as recipes says, used Thompson seedless grapes. Loved the crunch of the broccoli and the grapes a good combation with the dressing, garnished with toasted sunflower seeds. This will made a good summer time meal. Thanks for the recipe Heather.
     
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