Pasta Salad

I love pasta salad but I don't normally crave it in the winter. The sunny and 64 degree weather in Columbus today has my body confused, because I can't think of anything but spring cleaning and pasta salad.

A few weeks ago I was at Trader Joe's and found 1lb bags of multigrain fusilli for $.50. I'm not sure if that's the normal price, but I bought four bags because it was cheap, looked tasty, and 1 serving has 8g protein and 6g fiber. So in this recipe, I used Trader Giotto's Multigrain Fusilli with Flax. I also used the minced garlic from TJ's. I bought a jar recently and just love it. I've been using it in everything lately.

Fresh Herb and Lemon Pasta Salad

In a small bowl combine:

1 tbs chopped fresh mint
1 tbs chopped fresh basil
1/4 cup olive oil
1/2 tsp minced garlic
1/2 tsp salt (or to taste)
zest and juice from 1 lemon

In a large bowl combine the following and toss with the dresing:

1 lb cooked pasta, rinsed until cool, and drained
1 cup shredded zucchini, loosely packed
1 shredded carrot
1 chopped green onion
15 oz can chick peas, drained, rinsed

I ate a bowl of this at room temperature right after I made it and really enjoyed it, but I bet it would also be good warm or cold, too. I really threw together bits of what I had around, so the measurements are all estimates, but probably pretty close.