Who doesn't love a cold pasta salad on a hot summer day? In addition to being tasty, cool and refreshing, pasta salad is one of my secrets for providing a variety of healthy foods my entire family will love. Don't get caught up in visions of plain jane macaroni salad from the grocery deli - come up with a list of fruits, vegetables, meats and cheeses that your family likes and group them in complimentary combinations. Then come up with a dressing that is well suited to your combination- easy, right? And the combinations are endless.
The photo above is one of my girls' favorites right now - let's call it a very grape garden salad! As this is more of a method than a recipe, here are a few tips, and then a list of ingredients:
Keep ingredients small enough for little mouths, and also easy for little fingers to pick up if the fork and spoon loose their appeal. When making these salads, I often cook 2 boxes of pasta at once and make 2-3 different salads so we can rotate flavors.
In the salad above, we have peas, corn, sliced grape tomatoes, sliced grapes and shredded cheese with a poppyseed dressing.
Does your family love pasta salad? What are your favorite ingredients?
This post was written as part of the Hungry Toddler Blog Hop. Join the fun, add your linky below!
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2 comments:
Pasta salad is a great idea for toddlers (and the whole family!) I like to add olives, grape tomatoes, and fresh herbs, along with whatever might be in season at the time. And you're right, fruit is always a fun touch! I try to use kamut or quinoa pasta for extra nutritional value, but my son usually picks out all the veggies and leaves the pasta behind anyway :(
Thanks for linking up!
I agree - pasta salad is a fabulous idea! I don't have a standard favorite recipe, but peas are my favorite addition!
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