Caesar pasta salad

by paul Farrance
(Toronto, Canada)

Trying to figure out what food item my daughter could bring to school for her end of summer camp party is more difficult then it seems. There's only so many chicken nuggets and pizzas one can buy in a year.

My daughter wanted to bring hot pasta but the concern was how to prepare it with limited time in the morning and anyone knows reheating pasta the next day takes away from its texture and flavour. So cold pasta salad it is...

First, I took my daughter to the grocery store to pick out the ingredients. She chose a multi- coloured vegetable based spiral pasta.

(Substitute and medium sized pasta. Penne, bow ties,shells...). Then we went with Caesar dressing as my kids and many other like Caesar salad. We used presidents choice brand Caesar dressing which is yogurt based. This is a great option for anyone who may have egg or mayo allergies. Plus its less fat and no loss in flavour.

Then we got a package of salad topper. Crunchy noodles in place of croutons with sunflower and pumpkin seeds in place of bacon bits. Then for some colour and veggies we picked out a bag of pre-grated broccoli slaw. It holds its colour and crunch perfectly in the dressing. And the kids can't even taste the broccoli let alone know what they're actually eating.

For preparation, I let my daughter (8) help fill the pot with water and add salt and a bit of olive oil to the water. (Oil prevents pasta sticking together). When it was boiling, she opened the pasta package and with my help poured it into the water (about one cup of pasta per 4 kids).

Once the pasta was cooked I drained the water as the steam and splashing water can burn a child. Once strained we divided pasta into 2 or 3 different bowls to help it cool faster and placed in the fridge.

After a couple of hours it was at fridge temperature and ready to mix. My daughter added the dressing first to each bowl and mixed for a more even coating. Then added the broccoli slaw and mixed evenly. We then combined into one big bowl and sprinkled the crunchy ingredients on top.

This allowed the kids who didn't want any to pick around it. After all not everyone likes croutons... After school my daughter said all the kids and teachers liked the pasta and someone sent me this contest to enter.
We will definitely be cooking this one again.