I was craving pasta salad once again and thought I’d go through the groceries that had been given to me from family. Being a broke college student, I don’t turn down free food. As I was going through everything, I realized I had everything, but a few cheap ingredients that were easy to acquire.
You’ll need:
Pasta of some kind (I used Rotini this time)
Can of diced tomatoes
Ham
Shredded cheese
Italian dressing
Mayo (I used the Olive Oil kind)
Salt (I used Sea Salt)
What to do:
Boil your chosen pasta. You can season it with salt if you choose. While the pasta boils, chop your ham up. You can use actual tomatoes, but if cheap like me, a can also works. So if you bought actual tomatoes, dice those up now.
Once your pasta is done, drain it and throw it in a bowl. Throw the ham in on top and mix well. Next, throw in your tomato, fresh or canned, and mix it well too. If you’d like some shredded cheese in there while the pasta is hot, now is the time to toss it in and mix.
Now for the dressing. If you like the Italian salad dressing as it is, go for it. I wanted it a little more creamy personally. In a small bowl, add in the desired amount of dressing. Now just add small spoonfuls of mayo and mix until there are no clumps left. It all depends on how much you use and how creamy you want it to be. Once you have it mixed to your desired level, start pouring it in and mixing evenly. If you didn’t add salt before, you can sprinkle a bit of sea salt on top to mix in as well.
Once that’s done, enjoy!
You can always add in peppers or pickles, but this is what I happened to have on hand at the time to make a filling meal out of it. Also, I never say how much I use because really, it’s up to you on how you want to make it. If you want a big bowl of pasta, use as much as you need. If you’re making a small individual serving, you know what you need. It’s all about making it how you want it to be for you. I just give you the basic concept of it.
Cheap and easy is the way to go.
