Vega's Family Pasta Salad

Background:

Pasta salad is a bit of a cultural food for me. On my dads side, whenever we'd go to cookouts, it would always be there. It's a pretty staple part of African American get-togethers that includes food. Before , I'd never really messed with it, but it became especially important because of my aunt and my brother. Before we left to come to California, my brother loved my aunt's pasta salad and would eat it every time we came over to one of their houses (I have like 5 aunts so it's hard to remember exactly.) It was when we came back to visit them that it really affected me. As soon as we got to one of their houses, my aunt immediately sat in a big bowl in front of my brother filled with pasta salad. She said she remembered how much he loved it, and it was just nice that we were not forgotten after we left. I finally tried some and it was literally heaven. That just feels like another part of the African American get together/cookout. The food is made with love. Every single thing was made with the thought that people will love it and enjoy themselves.

• 1 lb. rotini pasta

• 1 English cucumber

• 1 red bell pepper

• 1 orange bell pepper

• 10 oz. grape tomatoes

• 1/2 red onion

• 2 Tbsp fresh chopped parsley

• 16 oz. bottled zesty Italian dressing

• 1/4 tsp salt

• 1/4 tsp freshly cracked black pepper

Cook the pasta according to the package instructions. 

• Drain the pasta in a colander and rinse briefly with cool water to cool off the pasta. Drain well. 

• While the pasta is cooking, prepare the veggies. Slice the cucumber into half moons, chop the bell peppers, slice the tomatoes in half, thinly slice the red onion, and chop the parsley. 

• Set the vegetables and chopped parsley aside. 

• Once the pasta has drained, transfer it to a large bowl. Add the chopped vegetables, and chopped parsley

• Pour the dressing over the pasta salad. 

• Toss the salad ingredients together until everything is evenly coated in the dressing. 

• Add salt and pepper to taste, I added about ¼ tsp of salt and ¼ tsp ground black pepper. 

• Serve immediately or refrigerate until ready to eat.