Corkscrew Pasta Salad

This is my absolute favorite pasta salad (notice I didn’t say macaroni salad)! When we go to BBQ’s it is so difficult for me to decide if I should bring my Delicious Macaroni Salad or this Corkscrew Pasta Salad, I usually end up bringing both… I love these salads that much! This pasta salad is sweet and tangy, nothing like the usual Italian dressing pasta salad. I brought it for lunch today and all morning I couldn’t wait to eat lunch (that’s not lame, is it?). I ate lunch during a meeting but all I did was savor every bite of my pasta salad wondering why I don’t make it more often. Whenever I get those recipe emails or someone asks for my favorite recipe I always give my corkscrew pasta salad and delicious macaroni salad recipes, yumilicious!!

Ingredients
16 ounces corkscrew pasta
1 cup cherry tomatoes
1 cucumber (sliced)
1 green pepper (chopped)
1/2 cup red onion (chopped)
Optional- 1 cup cheddar cheese cubes
Sauce
1/2 cup olive oil
3/4 cup vinegar
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pepper
2 tablespoons mustard
1 tablespoon Accent or any MSG
1 teaspoon garlic salt or powder

Directions
Cook the corkscrew pasta in boiling water, drain, and cool. In a large bowl whisk together the sauce ingredients. Add the pasta, tomatoes, cucumber, green pepper, and onion to the sauce and stir to coat everything. Cool in the fridge for at least 4 hours or over night. Stir before serving (the sauce tends to settle at the bottom).