Penne Pasta Cucumber Salad is a refreshing pasta that is a tasty salad for a party, a side, or even for lunch. Cucumbers complement Tuna Salad, Chicken Salad, and Vegetable salad.
Ingredients
- Barilla Penne 1 lb box – This is an eggless pasta
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1/2 teaspoon of salt for the boiling of the pasta
- 3 mini cucumbers peeled and sliced sorta thin, not paper thin.
- 2 Stalks of celery. Cut lengthwise in half and then chopped
- 1 small red onion chopped
- Salt and pepper to taste. I usually use about 1/8 teaspoon of black pepper and 1/8 teaspoon of salt and go from there. The Olives have some salt already. So don’t add a lot of salt til you have tasted it.
- 2 chopped green onions for the garnish on top
- 1/4 cup chopped pecans
- 5.75 oz jar of Lindsay Sliced Manzanilla Olives drained.
- 1/2 cup Hidden Valley Ranch Dressing made with sourcream and no mayonnaise
- 1/3 cup Balsamic Vinaigrette – I like the Kens brand
- Optional: 1 Cooked Chopped Chicken breast that has been roasted or baked or boiled can be added if you want it as a meal and not a side
Preparations
- Cook the Penne pasta in boiling water for approximately 10 minutes. I always add a 1/2 teaspoon of salt and a tablespoon of olive oil to the boiling water. It keeps the pasta from sticking.
- Once the pasta is done, drain and rinse with cold water. Set aside.
- Add the sliced cucumber, chopped onions, chopped celery, and manzanilla olives to a large mixing bowl
- Add the balsamic vinaigrette
- Add the Ranch Dressing
- Add about 1/8 teaspoon of black pepper
- If you are opting to put the chicken in this add the previously cooked chopped chicken at this time.
- Stir to mix the ingredients
- Add the pasta to the mixing bowl with the other ingredients and mix with a large wooden spoon.
- You may need to adjust the amount of Balsamic vinaigrette or ranch dressing depending on the amount of pasta in your salad. The pasta will absorb some of it. So after I mix everything I cover it and put it in the refrigerator for about 20 minutes then taste it again in case you need to adjust the ingredients.
