Vegetarian Pasta Salad

We went to the library yesterday afternoon to return some DVDs we had borrowed. As we were walking past the Newly Acquired section (where they showcase all newly acquired books and DVDs), a book caught my eye.

The book that caught my attention is called "201 Organic Baby and Toddler Meals". While my little man played in the kids area, I quickly flipped through the book. This book is full of delicious recipes geared towards babies and toddlers but all of them sounded delicious for grown-ups as well.

The recipes were so enticing that I stopped by a grocery store on my way home to pick up some bell peppers and milk.

I picked this recipe as I love cold pasta salads, especially ones loaded with colorful vegetables. This recipe came together quickly after a light amount of chopping and is even more delicious the next day. I was happy with how this recipe turned out and this recipe has earned a spot on my regular recipe rotation.

Sidenote: For those of you who read my post on my $150 grocery challenge, you would be interested to know that I spent $16.99 on produce, milk and miscellaneous grocery on Day 2. Milk apparently costs $9.24 every week for our family of 3! Wowzers!! This means that I have only $72.86 remaining for my grocery, entertainment and dining out budget to last for the remainder of the month (with 28 days to go)! I think that I might be in a bit of trouble!


Ingredients
500 g dried pasta (shells, rotini or mini farfalle pasta)
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1/2 cup plain Greek yogurt
4 tsp dried Italian seasoning or dried dill
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1 medium green bell pepper, diced small
1 medium red bell pepper, diced small
1 medium sized head of broccoli, stems diced and cut into small florets
1 medium carrot, diced small
Salt and pepper to taste

Directions
1. In a large pot, cook the pasta according to package directions.

2. Drain pasta and immerse cooked pasta in a container of cold water for 5 minutes. Drain and set aside.

3. In a small bowl, mix olive oil, mayonnaise, Greek yogurt, Italian seasoning, garlic powder together, salt and pepper. Set aside.

4. Combine pasta, green bell peppers, red bell peppers, broccoli, carrot and dressing together.

This pasta salad tastes even better the next day.

Source: Slightly adapted from 201 Organic Baby and Toddler Meals