The 10 day forecast here in New Jersey is finally starting to show glimmers of summer. Next week's Memorial Day holiday is the official kick off of summer and I couldn't be more excited!

In case you're hosting a BBQ or bringing a dish to one, I thought I'd share my famous pasta salad recipe! I'm going out on a limb here providing something other than fashion advice, but hey, I also used to be an accountant so no need to rule anything out! I've been making this salad for years now and it is always a fan favorite. The secret is in the dressing! An old friend of mine introduced me to it and I've never looked back. Let me know if any of you make it!

Ashley's Pasta Salad

Ingredients:

Good Seasoning's Garlic and Herb Dressing Packet
Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Red wine Vinegar
1 lb of Pasta of your choice
Grape tomatoes
2 Bell Peppers
1 large head of broccoli
Fresh Basil
1 brick of Extra Sharp Cheddar, I like this one
1/2 Pepperoni stick

Steps:

1. Make the dressing according to the instructions, set aside. Typically 1 packet of seasoning mix is good for 1 pound of pasta, but it's been since last summer since I've made this... so it's not a bad idea to pick up 2 packets just in case I'm remembering wrong. Dress the salad to your liking. If at the end it seems like it needs more dressing, you can also just use some of the olive oil if you only purchased one packet.

2. Make your pasta and let it cool. If you're looking to make this more of a meal or substantial side, I like to use a tri colored tortellini.

3. Cut the grape tomatoes on a diagonal.

4. Chop your peppers and broccoli to bite size. No one likes a big broccoli floret! I usually use orange and yellow peppers to have a variety of colors, but any pepper will do.

5. Chop your fresh basil. Dried basil will not suffice here. This is also a key ingredient! I like a lot of fresh basil in my salad, but I usually just eye this as I'm mixing.

6. Cut the cheese into small pieces so when you're eating the salad you can get a little bit of cheese in each bite.

7. Remove the casing off the pepperoni stick and also cut this into small pieces. For both the cheese and pepperoni, I slice them, then stack the slices and cut again, then cut again in the opposite direction so they end up being tiny cubes.

8. Assemble and refrigerate overnight. Make sure to take the salad out an hour before serving so the dressing can return to its liquid form.

9. Garnish with some more fresh basil and serve! If the salad seems too dry, you can also drizzle some more olive oil on top.

If any of the veggies don't appeal to you, swap out to your liking! Feel free to also adjust the amount of veggies, cheese, pepperoni and dressing used to your preference! Enjoy and let me know if you make this!

Shop my sizzling summer looks here!