Southern Love in Your Tummy: Absolutely Awesome Pasta Salad

This is a recipe that I commonly make for family gatherings. Often, I make it for family vacations and we have it as a side item with our lunches. It is also a great recipe for potlucks. It is an easy and tasty pasta salad that will inevitably get requests for the recipe. The key item is the McCormick® Salad Supreme® seasoning. I love it and it makes this salad great. Once again, I am not a measuring type girl, so feel free to play around with the amounts offered here until it tastes the way you like.

Absolutely Awesome Pasta Salad

2 16 ounce boxes Fiori pasta (or other pasta of your choice - in the photo I have half Fiori and half Spiral)

2 cups mayonnaise

3 tablespoons McCormick® Salad Supreme® seasoning

1 1 ounce package ranch flavor seasoning and salad dressing mix (or 3 tablespoons from a canister)

1 cup real bacon bits (also consider chopped ham or meat of your choice instead of bacon - I left out meat in the photo version)

1 cup broccoli florets

1 cup cauliflower florets

1 cup grape tomatoes

1 cup fresh mushrooms, sliced

1 cup carrots, sliced

1 medium cucumber, sliced

½ cup celery, sliced

½ cup green onions, chopped

¾ cup cheddar cheese, cubed (¼ inch cubes)

¾ cup Pepper Jack cheese, cubed (¼ inch cubes)

Prepare pasta according to package directions. In a large serving bowl, combine mayonaise, ranch mix, bacon bits, and salad supreme.  Stir in pasta, vegetables, and cheeses. Stir mayonnaise mixture into pasta salad until all ingredients are coated well - add more mayonaise if desired (sometimes the pasta soaks up the mayo more than other times, so I have had to add additional mayo in the past). Cover and chill for 1 hour prior to serving.

One taste of this pasta and you'll know what a little "Southern Love in Your Tummy" feels like! I hope you and your family enjoy it a much as mine does! Ya'll come back now, because there are more great recipes to come!

TIPS: 

1. If you are not going to serve all of this at once, consider leaving out the tomato and cucumber that do not do as well in the dressing over time.  They taste just as good added in at serving time. 
2. To keep the salad cold during a party or picnic, fill a gallon size freezer bag halfway, remove theair from the bag and lay the bag in the freezer with the bowl you will be using on top of it.  The water will freeze with the shape of the bowl indented into it.  Then when serving, place the bag on a towel and the bowl of pasta salad on the bag and it will help to keep tha pasta salad cold for a long time.

Check out all of Monica Kennedy's great recipes in her series: Southern Love in Your Tummy