Nourishing Pasta Salad for Parties and Picnics

Recommended by Claire at Gnosis Natural Health, this pasta salad is perfect for any summer potluck. It’s also nice because you can make parts of it and assemble it when you get there so it’s perfectly fresh.

This can be made with meat or without and this recipe uses gluten-free pasta. Greek dressing is a wonderful addition with a delicate flavor, but a good olive oil and seasoning salt is also delightful.

This is such a nourishing and refreshing dish to share :) Thanks Claire!

Ingredients:

1 bag rotini GF pasta, (365 Whole Foods brand is a good one)

 1 medium purple onion, diced

 3 baby cucumbers, sliced

 5 green onion stalks

 1/4cup fresh parsley

 2 tablespoons of minced garlic

 Olive oil, Gibson's seasoning salt, kosher salt

Method:

After cooking pasta in kosher sea salted water, drain and put in flat pan.

Sprinkle a layer of Gibson's seasoning, parmesan cheese fresh or ground and add the red onion. Drizzle olive oil

Then; layer the rest of the toppings (cucumber, onion, parsley).  Follow with a light layer of more Gibson's, and a little sea salt.

Optional: add seasoned meat (like bacon), additional lemon, olive oil dressing or Mediterranean dressing of choice (a good one is Strompolos Authentic Greek Dressing)

Scoop and enjoy.

Classic Potato Salad

Adapted from The Pioneer Woman

It’s potato salad season again! Anytime we have the opportunity for a barbecue or picnic, we try to make this potato salad. It can be altered a lot depending on what flavors you like, and the mayo can be replaced with a nice vinegar for a lighter vegan version.

Servings:8

Ingredients:

• 8-10 Medium Potatoes

• 1-1/2 cup Mayonnaise (We like Sir Kensington’s for Vegan Mayo)

• 4 Tablespoons Prepared Mustard (regular, Dijon or a mixture of both)

• 5 whole Green Onions (sliced) or 1/4 cup Red Onion (diced)

• 1/4 cup celery (minced)

• 8 whole Small Sweet or Dill Pickles (We like to use sweet relish)

• 1 teaspoon Sea Salt (to taste)

• 1/2 teaspoon Paprika (smoked if you prefer)

• 1/2 teaspoon Black Pepper (to taste)

• 4 -8 Hard-Boiled Eggs, chopped (can be omitted for vegan version, or replaced with avocado)

• Fresh Dill (for garnish)

  Instructions

  Cut potatoes in halves or thirds, then boil until fork tender. Drain. Mash potatoes or leave chunky. Fold potatoes together with mayonnaise, mustard, onions, celery, salt, pepper, and other seasonings you like. Fold in pickles (relish) and eggs, then taste for seasonings, adding more salt, mustard, or mayo as needed. You may also splash in juice from the pickle jar if salad needs a little moisture. Top with more paprika and some chopped dill. Goes great with any picnic or barbecue food. Enjoy!