Threadgill's French Quarter Pasta Salad

Miss Annie's Note:

This salad is great, and you mix it up a day ahead of serving. It is for a large crowd, but you could cut the recipe in half. Prep time includes 12 hours in the refrigerator. This is from "Threadgill's, The Cookbook" by Eddie Wilson. A landmark grill in Austin.

• Total Time: 12 mins
• Prep Time: 12 mins
• Cook Time: 0 mins

Ingredients:

Servings: 18

For Salad

• 1 cup black olives, sliced
• 1/2 cup green olives, sliced
• 1/4 cup green chili, diced
• 1 red onion, sliced
• 1/2 cup celery, finely diced
• 1/2 cup cauliflower, diced
• 1 teaspoon capers
• 1 green bell pepper, sliced
• 1/2 carrot, finely diced
• 1/2 cup broccoli, diced
• 1/2 cup mushroom, thinly sliced
• 4 lbs spiral shaped pasta, uncooked,fresh or frozen (dry would work also)

For Salad Dressing

• 2 teaspoons parsley, minced
• 1 teaspoon garlic, minced
• 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
• 1 teaspoon basil leaves, sliced
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1 teaspoon leaf oregano
• 1 teaspoon tarragon leaf
• 1 teaspoon black pepper
• 1/2 cup vinaigrette dressing (your favorite)

Directions:

1. Mix all salad ingredients EXCEPT pasta.
2. Mix salad dressing and pour over vegetables.
3. Let stand for 12 hours in refrigerator, stirring occasionally.
4. Cook and chill pasta.
5. Add pasta to the vegetables.
6. Serve as a salad or as a base for entree salads.

Reviews

[Kitchen Kozy]

First of all, I loved all the veggies in this pasta salad. However, I found the dressing rather ordinary, and as others have said, the recipe given did not make enough for 4lbs of pasta. I am not giving a star rating because I made one possibly substantial change to the recipe, by drastically reducing the quantity of green chilies, and that would have certainly given it more zing. I would have given it 3 stars in the form I made -- it was tasty but nothing special. I'm also kind of mystified as to why you'd give a salad dressing recipe that calls for the addition of pre-made vinaigrette dressing, considering that the recipe to that point basically is a vinaigrette.

[Sharon123]

This was delicious, although I did make a few changes. I only cooked up 1 pound of spiral pasta, and halved the vegs. and made a full batch of the dressing. This worked well and was delicious! Four pounds of pasta would make an awful lot. I also added a touch of ranch dressing to my bowl, because I felt it could use a touch more dressing. I loved all the veggies in this. Thanks Annie!