Cranberry Pasta Salad

It’s salad season and I’m always looking to share more recipes. This pasta salad is a winner. Lots of veggies adding texture and flavor and a non conventional dressing. The magic ingredient is cranberry sauce. Cranberry sauce? I know, most of use think of cranberry sauce as a Thanksgiving side dish, but it can be enjoyed in so many other ways.

In this recipe the tangy, sweet and sour cranberry sauce adds both flavor and color. Its neither the traditional mayonnaise based dressing or the very popular Italian dressing. Both are fine options, but sometimes its nice to try something really different.

I made my own cranberry sauce for this recipe, but the canned stuff is just fine. I already had a bag of cranberries in the freezer. I used half of the 12 oz. bag. I put the berries in a saucepan and added 1 cup of water. I simmered the berries for about 10 minutes until they starting popping and had softened. I then added sugar. About half a cup, but use your own taste on how much you want to add. Once cooled, I used it to make the dressing.

We had this salad in class and it was a big hit. People said they loved the color and thought the flavors worked well together. I agree, I love this salad, too. I thought it might also be a fun salad to make after Thanksgiving. Use that leftover cranberry sauce and serve with turkey sandwiches. Yum.

So here is the recipe.

Cranberry Pasta Salad

1 lb. Pasta, cooked, drained and cooled

2 c. shredded cabbage

2 c. cherry tomatoes, split

4 green onions, chopped

2 sweet peppers, seeded and chopped

1 small zucchini, diced

1 carrot, shredded

Dressing:

¾ c. olive oil

2 T. fresh lime or lemon juice

2 T. red wine vinegar

1 T. balsamic vinegar

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 t. dried basil

2 t. dried parsley

1 t. orange peel

1 c. whole berry cranberry sauce

Add vegetables to pasta. Whisk together dressing ingredients and pour over pasta mixture. Stir until well combined. Chill before serving. Serves 10-12.

Note: Of course you can play around with which veggies to add. The combination in the original recipe works great, but use what you like and what you have on hand.

I’m pretty sure I got the original recipe, or a version of it, from my friend Dale. Thanks, Dale.