POTLUCK.

I have been doing well so far on my quest to becoming vegan. I have found some great recipes and have also made up a few of my own. One thing that I love to make is pasta salad.

For potlucks, parties, luncheons, etc. It is a great, easy and affordable dish to make. I have a potluck to go to tomorrow and I thought I'd make one of my favorite pasta salads (courtesy of AllRecipes.com) called "Antipasto Pasta Salad" but I thought I'd change the recipe up to make it vegan.

My ingredients are:
-Zucchini
-Olives
-Red Bell Pepper
-Red Onion
-Artichoke Hearts
-1lb bag of a pasta of your choice (I prefer shells or bowtie)
-1 7oz pack of Italian Dressing mix (just the seasoning)
-Olive Oil
-Balsamic Vinegar
-Salt and Pepper to taste



I decided to omit all the salami, cheese and pepperoni and make it a grilled veggie pasta salad. Here are the steps I took while also some-what following the original recipe.

First you want to boil your water for your pasta since this takes a while then cut up all your vegetables.



Then I got them ready for grilling by drizzling them with olive oil and sprinkling them with salt and pepper.



I did this with the zucchini, red bell pepper and red onions. Then I grilled these veggies on a grill pan




While the veggies grilled I chopped the other ingredients that weren't going to be grilled; in this case olives, tomatoes and artichoke hearts (from a can, packed in water)





Then drain your pasta (this should have been cooking during the process)



After your done grilling your veggies, let them cool. Once they're cool chop them into bite size pieces. (These were the onions I grilled)



Once all the veggies are diced up mix them with the cooled pasta and mix in the dry Italian season packet. Cover with plastic and put it in the fridge to cool.


SOURCE.

The last thing you want to do is add olive oil and balsamic vinegar. This is usually right before you serve or right before you leave the house. I usually eyeball the amount and add salt and pepper to taste. Served cold; ENJOY!

I haven't finished this since I am serving it tomorrow but I can't wait to taste it!

NOTE: I will not be blogging today as DAY 05 of my vegan conquest because in LENT, Sundays do not count. So from Ash Wednesday to Easter Sunday it is technically 46 days; if you omit the Sundays it becomes 40. But, I will still be eating vegan on Sundays, I just wanted to clarify the days and account for not blogging on Sundays.