Annie's Asian Sesame Pasta Salad

So I decided to do another competition for Annie's Naturals and this is the recipe I came up with. It's pretty delicious and very easy to make. Try it out and let me know what you think!







Check out the VIDEO on YOUTUBE!

Ingredients:
- 1 Bottom Annie's Asian Sesame Dressing
- 1 pound Tri- Colored Rotini
- 1 red bell pepper, diced
- 1/2 onion, diced
- 16 garlic cloves, minced
- 2 celery stalks, diced
- 2 large carrots, shredded
- olive oil
- salt
- pepper
- crushed red pepper
- fresh basil, diced

To Make:
Boil a pot of salted water and cook the pasta according to the package, about 8 minutes or until al-dente.

In the meantime, drizzle olive oil into a large pan and cook the onions, red peppers, garlic and celery for about 10 minutes on medium high heat, stirring frequently until tender. Season with salt and pepper.

Drain the pasta and place in a large serving bowl. Drizzle with olive oil. Mix in the cooked vegetables and carrots.

Slowly add in the bottom of Annie's Asian Sesame Dressing and mix together, adding more salt and pepper to taste. Also, add in the crushed red pepper to taste.

Lastly, shred the fresh basil and add that on top.

Serve at room temperate or cold. Delicious either way!

Kicked-Up Pasta Salad

Since summer is not officially over yet, there is still time for a GREAT pasta salad! This weekend, my mom said she was so sick of her "traditional pasta salad" so I said, "I'll make you MY pasta salad." My pasta salad is not only fun and delicious it's very simple and easy to make. I say it's "Kicked-Up" because I make sure that it has a BITE to it :-) Between the garlic, fresh onion, green pepper and crushed red pepper flakes, this is DEFINITELY a fabulous dish.




Ingredients:

- 1 pound of tri-colored rotini
- 1 large green pepper - diced
- 1/2 large sweet onion - diced
- 4 large carrots -shredded
- 6 cloves of fresh garlic - minced
- 1 bag frozen broccoli
- 1 cup parmesan cheese
- 3/4 container of Italian salad dressing
- Salt
- Pepper
- Olive Oil
- Crushed red pepper
- Handful of fresh basil, chopped

To Make:

In a large pot, boil water and cook pasta according to the package. It should always be al-dente.

In the meantime, take a saute pan and drizzle some olive oil in the bottom. Remove all stems from broccoli and saute the broccoli until they are tender, about 8-10 minutes on med-high heat. Add salt and pepper to taste. Stir every few minutes.
-The reason we cook the broccoli for this dish rather than add fresh raw broccoli is because this makes it much easier to eat. Imagine crunching on fresh raw broccoli in your pasta salad... it's difficult to eat.

Do not over-cook the broccoli, you want it firm and tender not soft and mushy.

In the meantime, begin dicing the onion, garlic and green pepper and shred the carrots.

In an extra large bowl, add the diced and shredded veggies in the bottom. Season with salt and pepper and drizzle with olive oil. When your pasta is finished cooking, drain and add immediatly into the bowl. Add salt, pepper and olive oil onto the top of your pasta and begin mixing in with the other veggies in the bottom.

Add in the broccoli and mix together. Add the Italian dressing and crushed red pepper and more salt and pepper if needed.

At this point your dish will be hot. Let the entire dish cool off before adding the basil and parmesan cheese. About 20 min.

Stir in the fresh basil and parmesan cheese and mix until all ingredients are equal througout.

Store in the refrigerator until your ready to serve.

ENJOY! (serves about 8-12 people)