Cold Spaghetti Salad

Vegetarian

This is my mom's recipe and it remains one of my favorites. It's a light dish that's great for summer or those unexpectedly warm fall days. The ingredients are flexible: I leave out the olives and my mom substitues 1 cup of steamed broccoli for the zucchini, so mix and match with alternate veggies as you prefer. To make it a little healthier, use whole wheat spaghetti.

If you want to make the dish vegan, leave off the feta cheese. I really like the flavor that it gives, though, so you may want to make some tofu feta ahead of time to use or add some sea salt to the dressing.

Ingredients

for the salad...

• 4 medium tomatoes, peeled, chopped
• 1 medium cucumber, chopped
• 1 small green pepper, seeded, chopped
• 1 small onion, chopped
• 1 cup black olives, chopped
• 1/4 cup fresh parsley (or 1 1/2 tbsp dried)
• 8 oz. spaghetti or fettuccine, cooked, drained
• 1 cup crumbled feta cheese (4 oz.)
• 1 small zucchini, chopped

for the dressing...

• 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 1 tbsp. sugar
• 3 tbsp. white wine
• 2 tbsp. lemon juice
• 1 tbsp. fresh basil (or 1 tsp. dried)
• 1/4 tsp. pepper
• Dash Tobasco sauce

Preparation

Combine all salad ingredients in a large bowl. Mix the dressing, drizzle over salad, and toss. Chill for an hour. Serves about six.

Source: Ryan's mommy

From: Ryan MacMichael