Protein Packed Pasta Salad is a great high protein food, delicious and good for you.

It is so cold and snowy here in WV that I could eat a warm bowl of homemade soup every day.  For the past 2 weeks my husband has been asking me to make a pasta salad.  I usually fixed this in the summer or when I need to take something to a covered dish event to feed a large crowd.  My original recipe serves about  10 people.

To please my husband, I made this for my downsized recipe this week.

I call this dish Protein Packed Pasta Salad because of the different meats and cheeses in it.  It is a colorful dish and makes a great side.

I like to buy the meats and cheeses from the deli so that I can get thick pieces and cut them into cubes.

HOW TO MAKE THIS PASTA SALAD:

Boil the pasta, drain and set aside to cool. Place in serving bowl.

Cut the peppers into small pieces and add to pasta.

Cut the ham, salami, and cheeses into 1/2-inch cubes and add to pasta.

Cut tomatoes in half and add to bowl.

Add the dressing slowly, tossing to coat all ingredients.

Cover and chill at least 4 hours.

Gently toss salad prior to serving, drizzle additional dressing if needed.

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PASTA SALAD FOR 2- - DOWNSIZED COOKING RECIPE

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups rotini pasta
• 1/4 cup green bell pepper chopped
• 1/4 cup red bell pepper chopped
• 1 slice deli ham cut thick (4 oz)
• 1 slice cooked salami cut thick (4oz)
• 1/4 cup mini pepperoni pieces or 5 pizza style slices, cut in half
• 4 oz chunk colby cheese
• 4 oz chunk provolone cheese
• 5 cherry tomatoes cut in half
• 1/2-3/4 cup zesty Italian dressing

Instructions

• Boil rotini in salted water as directed on box, about 12 minutes; drain and cool. Place pasta in serving bowl.
• Add peppers to pasta. Cut ham, salami, colby and provolone cheese into 1/2-inch cubes. Add these ingredients, along with the pepperoni and tomatoes to pasta bowl.
• Add the Italian dressing slowly, tossing ingredients to coat all ingredients.
• Cover and chill at least 4 hours. Gently toss pasta again prior to serving.
• Notes
• May need to add a small amount of dressing after the pasta salad sets to chill if it seems a little dry.