Anti Pasta Salad Recipe

This is the perfect summer pasta salad recipe. It makes enough to feed an army, so it’s perfect to take to pot lucks or barbecues. It is very easy to split the recipe in half, it you want to make a smaller batch.

Anti Pasta Salad Recipe:

32 ounce package of Rotelli pasta, cooked al dente!

1 red pepper, diced

1 yellow pepper, diced

1 small red onion, diced

1 variety basket of mini tomatoes (cherry, grape, pear, etc.). If you can’t find a variety basket, pick your favorite!

1 handful of fresh basil leaves, sliced into ribbons*

1 large can of black olives, drained

1 can of artichoke hearts, drained and quartered

2 jars of Napoleon marinated mushrooms, drained

1 cup shredded parmesan

1 bottle of Newman’s Own Oil & Vinegar dressing

Red wine vinegar (approx 1/4 cup)

Extra Virgin Olive Oil (approx 1/4 cup)

Salt, to taste (approx 1/2 tsp)

Cracked black pepper, to taste (approx 1 tsp)

The evening before: cook pasta until al dente. Rinse in cold water. When making pasta salad, it is important to rinse in cold water to remove all the extra starch, so it won’t be sticky or gummy! When water is fully drained, put the pasta in a large bowl, toss in Newman’s Own dressing.  Add the diced red pepper, diced yellow pepper, diced red onion, salt, pepper, parmesan and toss. When ingredients are mixed well; add the artichoke hearts, black olives, and marinated mushrooms. Toss lightly. Cover and put in the fridge.

Next day: When you are about ready to serve the pasta salad (or take it to a bbq), take the pasta out of the fridge. Drizzle some EVOO and red wine vinegar over the top. Chop fresh basil into ribbons, add to pasta. Add the tomatoes, and gently toss. Make sure and do a taste test to see if you need to add any more salt, pepper, EVOO, or red wine vinegar. ENJOY!

*How to slice basil into ribbons:
1) Stack basil leaves, about 5 leaves high.
2) Roll the stack of leaves, starting at the stem and moving towards the tip of the leaf.
3) Slice the roll with a sharp knife, like you’d slice a loaf of bread.

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Old Timey Vanilla Ice Cream Recipe

A while back I created a recipe that tastes almost identical to the vanilla ice cream my family used to make. Back in the olden days, we would take turns hand-cranking the old White Mountain ice cream maker during summer barbecues. There were only two flavors we’d make; vanilla and cherry-vanilla. They were very simple egg-free recipe’s, but tasted oh so good! Here is my updated version:

Old Timey Vanilla Ice Cream


2 1/2 cups of half and half
1, 14 ounce can of condensed milk
3 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 tbsp of cornstarch
2 tbsp of raw blue agave

Reserve 2 tbsp of half and half in a small bowl. Mix it with the cornstarch. Set aside. In a separate bowl, beat the condensed milk, the remaining half and half, agave, and vanilla until well blended. Mix in the cornstarch slurry and immediately pour into the ice cream maker. (FYI: If you let the mixture sit, the cornstarch will settle at the bottom of the bowl. This will screw up the results!)

Depending on your ice cream maker, it will usually take 20 - 30 minutes for the ice cream to reach the desired consistency.What is the desired consistency, you ask? It should be like soft serve.

When it reaches the right consistency, pour into a 1 quart freezer container and freeze for four hours. It should then be ready to scoop and serve!