Pasta Salad--inspired By Rita

Total Time: 23 mins Preparation Time: 15 mins Cook Time: 8 mins

Ingredients

• Servings: 6
• 2 cups elbow macaroni, uncooked
• 1 cup frozen peas, uncooked (or fresh peas, scalded for 1 to 2 minutes)
• 3/4 cup baby carrots
• 2 celery ribs
• 5 -6 spring onions or 5 -6 green onion tops
• 1/3-1/2 cup salad dressing (or your favorite mayo)
• 1 tablespoon tarragon vinegar
• 1 tablespoon fresh ground horseradish
• 1 clove fresh garlic, minced
• 1 1/2 teaspoons dijon mustard (i use grey poupon for this)
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• salt and pepper, to taste
• rita grilled portabella mushroom, diced (grilled portabella mushrooms) (optional)

Recipe

• 1 cook macaroni according to package instructions, al dente.
• 2 drain in colander, then rinse with cold water.
• 3 when macaroni is chilled and well drained, return to pan.
• 4 in foodprocessor, chop celery ribs and carrots (separately if using mini-food processor).
• 5 gently toss frozen peas with pasta, breaking apart any peas that are frozen together.
• 6 add chopped celery and carrots and gently toss again.
• 7 in foodprocessor, blend remaining ingredients, excluding the mushrooms.
• 8 pour over pasta and vegetables, gently folding until coated.
• 9 refrigerate for 2 hours or overnight to allow flavors to meld.
• 10 note: if using the option of rita's grilled portabello mushrooms, they can be blended in with the carrot and celery addition, or served as an optional topping or side to be added by each individual.