Pasta Salad with Blue Cheese Vinaigrette

I needed something new and cold for dinner tonight. We are sweating our way through the middle of our first St. George summer. Every time I put my kids in the car I feel like they may suffer from heatstroke just from the time it takes me to strap them in then walk around the car to get in and start the AC. The sweet, sweet AC. 

I saw vegetables in my fridge and contemplated what I could make with them without having to use any heat. I guess I used a little flame to boil my water and cook pasta but I still count this as a win because my 3 year old had seconds and my husband had thirds. This pasta would be good as a side dish or a main entree with a baguette on the side. While eating it I imagined it would be great to take to a barbecue and have it along side a nice juicy steak. Mmmm

Pasta Salad with Blue Cheese Vinaigrette 

Serves 4-5 as a main dish, or plenty to go around as a side. 

Ingredients

1 lb cooked and drained pasta (shells, penne, spirals)

7 oz kielbasa diced small 

1 lg bunch broccoli chopped very small

1 red bell pepper diced very small 

1 celery stalk diced small 

1/2 small English cucumber diced 

1 tablespoon very finely chopped red onion

Vinaigrette 

1/3 cup red wine vinegar

2/3 cup prepared blue cheese dressing (I used Lighthouse Chunky Blue Cheese) 

2 tablespoons canola oil

1/4 teaspoon sugar

Fresh ground black pepper to taste

Directions

Stir together vinagrette ingredients in a small bowl.

Stir together chopped vegetables, kielbasa, and pasta in a large bowl.

Pour dressing over the salad and stir until everything I coated.  

Refrigerate if not eating right away.