I’ve taken a cue from some of my favorite bloggers to cook with items already in my pantry. It is, after all, Spring Cleaning time, so why not treat the pantry like the rest of the house?
Clean it out.
Besides, after washing windows, laundering curtains, and vacuuming like crazy, the last thing I want to do is go to the grocery store.
Hence, Pantry Pasta Salad was born. Most of the ingredients are staples from my pantry.
Whole wheat pasta, canned chickpeas, sliced onion, and a jar of roasted red peppers made it into the bowl. Then I added a few fresh ingredients – grape tomatoes that were a little past their prime and fresh parsley from the back yard.
This salad could also have cubed ham (leftover), crumbled bacon, or Parmesan cheese to make it a main course.
I made a homemade Dijon mustard vinaigrette dressing (Jamie Oliver has some good ideas) to tie it all together. Simple!
There’s no recipe today, because I want you to experiment with this one. Add what you want and make it your own. I can’t wait to see what you come up with 
Challenge: Make Pantry Pasta Salad your way. Send me your recipe and a photo at downhomesj@gmail.com. One reader will be chosen at random to have his or her recipe featured in a post here on Down-Home South Jersey. All entries must be received by midnight EST on April 27, 2012.
Serve this with Japanese and Garlic Marinated Chicken.
oo brilliant idea! I was thinking last night that my cupboards were too full so I will definitely give this a go. Your pasta looks delicious!
Posted by veghotpot | April 18, 2012, 6:49 amDon’t forget to send me your recipe
Posted by Jennifer M. | April 18, 2012, 6:50 am