Ah, the Fourth of July. It’s not hard to find a quality recipe for your pre-firework barbeque. In fact, what’s hard is wading through the plethora of quality recipes and deciding which one you’re going to whip up in celebration. Well, we recommend you go with this one. “This one,” by the way, is Ranch Spinach Pasta Salad. Why? Because we’re using Betty Crocker Pasta Salad, and there is nothing — we repeat: nothing — more American than Betty Crocker. Seriously, this imaginary woman screams nationalism. Also, you’ll be able to get your kids to eat their vegetables, so there’s that. [photo via bettycrocker.com]
And we have even more good news: You won’t even need to turn on the oven. On a hot July day, that’s better than good news. That’s great news. This sounds like something you want to try, doesn’t it? Thought so. Check out this recipe from BettyCrocker.com — America, America — for your holiday celebration.
Ingredients
- 1 Box Betty Crocker Suddenly Salad Classic Pasta Salad Mix
- ½ Cup Ranch Dressing
- 1 Tablespoon Fresh Lemon Juice
- 2 Cups Baby Spinach Leaves or Small Broccoli Florets
- ¾ Cup Grape Tomatoes, Halved
- ½ Cup Sliced Cucumber, Halved
- ½ Cip Julienne (Matchstick – Cut) Carrots
- 2 Tablespoons Chopped Fresh or 1 Teaspoon Dried Basil Leaves
Directions
- Empty out the contents of the pasta salad mix into a 3-quart saucepan full of boiling water. The water should be boiled, uncovered, for 12 minutes. Stir occasionally.
- Drain the pasta and then rinse it with cold water. Shake it to drain well.
- Using a medium sized bowl, stir the seasoning mix found inside the pasta salad mix together with ranch dressing and lemon juice until completely blended. Then, stir in the pasta and remaining ingredients.
- Cover and refrigerate the pasta salad until ready to serve.
Wait, there’s even more good news! This recipe keeps getting better and better. From start to finish, the pasta salad should take you only 15 minutes. And you can mix it up depending on your crowd (if you’re a family of meat-eaters, throw in some chicken or ham). Keep in mind that this dish serves six people, so you can play around with the ingredients if you need to serve more — or fewer — people. So, there you have it. We made the decision for you, and now you don’t have to worry about picking a recipe for the Fourth.
