Pasta Salad, by Em

So, just to warn you, I'll probably be including a lot of picnic-y recipes, because I'm starting to get antsy for some outdoor grillin'.  This is a simple, easy recipe.  Why not try it with whole wheat pasta for a more healthy and flavorful alternative?

Ingredients:

1 lb spiral pasta

1 cup Ranch dressing

2 med. cucumbers

parmesan cheese

Directions:

• Boil some water and begin cooking the pasta.
  
• While the pasta is cooking, slice the cucumber into bite-sized pieces.  Remove cooked pasta, drain, and run under cold water to prevent the pasta from getting too mushy.
• Add the cucumbers and Ranch dressing.  Add parmesan to taste.

Variations:

Add some olives.  I'll be the first to admit that I don't like olives, but when my friend K originally made this that was part of the recipe.  Also try with cherry tomatoes.  Use feta instead of parmesan.

The amount of Ranch dressing you will need is a guess.  The pasta tends to sort of absorb the dressing, so just keep adding more until it looks right.