Since I’m still on my cold supper kick, I decided to make Veggie Pasta Salad for last night’s dinner, served alongside a prepared rotisserie chicken and French bread.

There are probably a million versions of pasta salad, and I love most of them. I never seem to make it the same way twice, because I like to use up whatever ingredients I have on hand. That cuts down on extra trips to the store and makes good use of a hodge-podge of veggies.

This version is completely parve, since soy cheese was used. Regular cheese can be substituted for a dairy meal. (The cheese can be left out entirely if you wish. Compensate with a little extra salt.)

To make Veggie Pasta Salad, you will need:

*  A box of rotini pasta—cooked,drained, and rinsed in cold water. (I used Tri-Colored, but it works just as well with plain.)

*  A container of cherry tomatoes, halved

*  1 1/2 cups of cucumbers, peeled. (I had a huge bunch of these to use up. Half went into this recipe & the others were for Marinated Cucumbers.)

*  1 can of sliced black olives

*  1 can of chickpeas  (If you have extra, these are awesome roasted!)

*  3 scallions, chopped

*  1/2 cup soy cheese shreds

*  Salad dressing  (I used 3/4 of a bottle of Kraft Viva Italian.)

*  Juice of a lemon

*  Salt/pepper to taste.

Combine all of the ingredients in a large mixing bowl. Toss until evenly coated. Chill for at least a few hours and overnight is fine, too. Leftover Veggie Pasta Salad is quite good, but it may require a little extra dressing.