Hoagie Pasta Salad

Ingredients

For the pasta salad:

• Salt
• 300g rotini
• 1 ½–2 cups cherry tomatoes, halved
• 1 cup diced cucumber
• ½ cup diced green bell pepper
• ½ cup diced red onion
• ½ cup sliced olives, black or green
• ¼ cup finely diced pickled peppers, optional
• 2 cups diced iceberg lettuce
• 100g thinly sliced salami
• 100g deli ham
• 150g diced provolone or mozzarella cheese

For the dressing:

• ¼ cup white vinegar
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 1 ½ teaspoons Dijon mustard
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• ½ teaspoon dry Italian seasoning
• ¼ teaspoon onion powder
• ¼ teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/3 cup light olive oil or canola oil
• Salt & pepper

Directions

1. Bring a large pot of water to a boil over high heat. Season well with salt and cook the pasta according to the package directions. When the pasta is cooked, drain it and give it a good rinse with cold water. This will cool the noodles and remove some of the excess starch so your pasta salad doesn’t become a brick.
2. For the dressing, combine the vinegar, lemon juice, mustard, sugar, Italian seasoning, onion powder, garlic powder, and oil in a jar, seal, and shake well to combine. Season with salt and pepper and add to the pasta salad. Toss well to combine.
3. You can serve right away or store in the fridge for a few hours to bring the flavours together.
4. Add the pasta to a large bowl along with the tomatoes, cucumber, bell pepper, red onion, olives, pickled peppers, if using, and iceberg lettuce. Slice or dice the salami and ham and add to the bowl along with the cheese. Toss well to evenly combine.