Pasta Salad with Tomato-Lime Dressing

For the 4th day of the blogging marathon, I am posting a very yummy pasta salad.
I favor pasta salads, even if I see one in a buffet. I cannot but help take a serving of it!
I don't mind even if it has a creamy base or like this one just a oil base.

With all the veggies added to it, it becomes a whole meal by itself. It surely is good to go as a side dish and what better is that it is a cold salad and can be prepared few hours to a day ahead.

Even my older one has taken a liking to this and has asked me to pack it to school lunch. For him tho, I only add veggies he likes, mainly raw tomatoes :).

You can use any kind of pasta you wish (whole grain will be much healthier). I used regular farfalle or bow-tie pasta, cos they look,....cute!!!

Ingredients:

For Tomato-Lime Dressing

1/4 cup Tomato juice (you can used canned, for fresh - Boil 1 chopped tomato in the microwave with 1 tbsp of water for about 1 minute. Squeeze the juice out and strain the juice)
2 tbsp olive oil or vegetable oil
2 tbsp Lime juice
Salt and pepper to taste
1 clove of garlic, chopped tiny

For salad:

1 pack of pasta, about 8 oz
1 large tomato, chopped to bite size
pinch of red chili flakes
1/2 red bell pepper, chopped
1/2 green bell pepper, chopped
1-2 tbsp chopped black olives
few Chopped basil leaves

Variation: You can add chopped cucumber, green onions, Anaheim chili, either cilantro or parsley for garnish


Method:

Mix all the dressing ingredients together in a bowl and keep aside.
Mix all the salad ingredients together along with the chopped basil leaves.
Mix the dressing as required into the pasta mixture. Gently toss it all together,
Chill for about an hour (more is OK too), before serving.
Serve chilled as a side dish. Enjoy!!!

Jump on here to check on my fellow marathoners.

Sending this to Srivalli's Soups and Salads mela.