Quick, sweet, and to the point

I'm quickly becoming even more of a leftovers fanatic. As mentioned yesterday, I made pasta salad as one of the side dishes to have with the grilled pork over the weekend. It is very difficult to turn pasta salad into anything besides just that, but I think that the recipe itself should count as a repurposed recipe because it combines pasta salad, which on its own can be very bland and boring, with broccoli slaw similar to the "stolen broccoli slaw" recipe featured earlier this year. Combining these two ideas together created something I had never really experienced before in one bowl. And for those who were sitting at the table that evening hopping on the "I don't like fruit in my salad" train, pooh on you because you don't know what you're missing. And after having tuna sandwiches for dinner last night (no, I couldn't bring myself to blog about that. Next you'd see a recipe on the blog for peanut butter and jelly with a glass of milk and I don't need to stoop to that level yet at this point in my cooking life), the tuna salad and this pasta salad came together in the same bowl to make the perfect 'run out the door to go take care of the Chicken Nugget kindergarteners' kinda meal. The sweetness of the cranberries is really what makes this unique, and will make a great side salad all summer long.

Recipe of the day: Broccoli Slaw Pasta Salad

 

1/2 pound bowtie pasta, boiled in salted water to al dente
Half of a 10 oz. bag broccoli slaw
3/4 cup mayo
1 tbsp honey
4-5 dashes Frank's hot sauce
1-2 tbsp apple cider vinegar (enough to thin out the mayo but not make it too soupy)
S&P to taste
2-3 handfuls dried cranberries
1 package of plain ramen noodles, flavor packet removed (crush the whole bag, and put half of the contents into the salad)

While the pasta is cooking, mix up the dressing. Combine the mayo, honey, Frank's, cider vinegar, and S&P in a bowl and whisk until smooth.

Drain the pasta. Add the pasta back into the bowl, and add about 2 tablespoons of dressing to keep the pasta from sticking together. Place in refrigerator to cool.

Once cool, add remaining dressing, broccoli slaw, dried cranberries, and stir to combine. Place back in refrigerator to cool until ready to serve. Once ready to serve, add ramen noodle crumbles, toss to distribute and serve. Leftovers keep for 3-4 days in an airtight container. You can also add sunflower seeds for an extra crunch, though I did leave them out of this version because I didn't feel like going back to the grocery store for a third time.