Andi's Pasta Salad W/Blue Cheese,broccoli and Grapes

Ingredients

• 1 (12-16 ounce) package rotini pasta, cooked and drained, cooled completely (corkscrew shape)

• 1 bunch fresh broccoli, florets only, cut into bite-sized pieces
• 2 cups white seedless grapes or red seedless grapes, halved, approximately, to taste

• 1 (15 ounce) can black olives (small or medium size)
• 1/2-1 cup red onion, sliced thinly or finely chopped
• 1 1/2-2 cups chunky-style bleu cheese salad dressing, approximately to taste, do not use fat free (such as Marie's)
• salt, to taste
• fresh ground black pepper, to taste
• crumbled cooked bacon or sunflower seed, optional garnish

Directions

1. 1

   Combine pasta, broccoli, grapes, olives, and red onion in a large bowl.

2. 2

   Pour all of the blue cheese dressing into a separate mixing bowl.

3. 3

   Add enough of the reserved canning liquid from the olives to thin the dressing enough to your liking (*note:ifyou forgot to save the canning liquid, just use some cold water)- you may not need the full 1/4 cup, or you may need a little more- it depends upon how thick the bleu cheese dressing you purchased was.

4. 4

   The idea is to make the dressing thin enough to evenly coat all of the veggies& pasta lightly.

5. 5

   Mix thinned dressing with the veggie& pasta mixture and toss to coat well.

6. 6

   Chill at least 2 hours or overnight to allow pasta to absorb the dressing a bit- the chilled salad will appear dry.

7. 7

   Taste for seasonings- you may add a little salt& pepper if desired, but it may not be necessary depending upon the dressing brand you selected.

8. 8

   Toss salad again before serving.

9. 9

   Garnish if desired.

10. 10

    Garnishing IDEAS: If you like a little crunch, please feel free to garnish this with some crumbled cooked bacon or some sunflower seeds- sometimes I have even stirred them into the salad itself.