What is the tastiest cold pasta/veggie recipe for a big picnic?

conchiglie shells with a sort of mayonnaise dressing and small strips of lettuce, onion, and capsicum. MMM-MMMM.

Marina’s Summer Pasta Salad
Cooked Pasta, chilled I like penne best so the flavors go all in the little tubes.
2 ozs, good quality imported hard salami like Boar’s Head, sliced thick and diced
Green or pitted nocoise olices, sliced
1 Container grape tomatoes, halved
1 small zucchini, thinly sliced (if too big, cut in half vertically, and then slice)
1/2 small (or 1/4 large) sweet onion, diced small
1/2 large orange or purple if you can get it bell pepper, diced small
Salt & pepper to taste
1/4 cup fresh basil leaves, slivered
Mayonnaise

You can omit the meat for veggie version. You can also substitute diced ham for less adventurous palates.

Pasta salad with some baby tomatoes, olives, those mini corn, kidney beans, maybe some corn.. yumm!!

tortelini with pesto – and then cut some cherry tomatoes in half and mix them in. Refrigerate till it’s well-chilled. Very tasty, super easy, and always a hit!

Oh my gosh! I left a key ingredient out of my post above. I also cube provolone cheese and put that in.

I was never a fan of this type of entree at picnics until I ran across one that had tortellini pasta with some sort spicy chipotle style dressing with it. It also had tomatoes and some cubed cheese and I believe italian parsley. As one who truly doesn’t get into these, I was quite impressed.

peanut noodles

I love 7-layer salad, although I think my family must have embellished it along the way, because there are more than 7 layers. It works best in a clear, glass bowl because the layers are so pretty. It is just a layer of shredded lettuce, chopped tomatoes, thawed frozen peas (drained), chopped green onions, sliced black olives, sliced fresh mushrooms, chopped hard-boiled eggs, shredded cheddar cheese. Then “frost” it on top with mayonnaise or miracle whip. Sprinkle with a generous helping of crumbled bacon.