Broccoli Pasta Salad

This salad is a great twist on traditional pasta salads, or even a broccoli salad as it combines the two ideas into one. It has a sweet mayonnaise dressing over a mixture of broccoli, pasta, and grapes. It also has pecans and bacon to add a little bit of crunch. I have made this several times for my family and there are hardly ever any leftovers, which is good, because it's not as good after the first day, since the pecans and bacon aren't as crunchy when they've been sitting in the dressing.

First you need to cook the pasta (only half a box), and prepare the rest of your ingredients (cut the broccoli, onions, and grapes).  I realized after I finished making the salad that I had used a full box and there was more pasta than there was supposed to be, but it was still good. Doing this made the sauce a lot thinner over the salad, so I still recommend only using half a box of pasta.

 Then make the sauce and mix in the broccoli, pasta, and grapes. 

 Your salad is almost done now. You want to refrigerate it for at least 2 hours so the pasta and broccoli can soak in some of the flavor from the sauce. Toast the pecans, cook the bacon, and mix them into the salad just before you serve it.

Broccoli Pasta Salad

Ingredients:

-1 cup chopped pecans, toasted

-1/2 (16 oz.) pkg. Farfalle (bow tie) pasta

-1 lb. fresh broccoli, cut into small pieces

-1 cup mayonnaise

-1/3 cup sugar

-1/2 cup diced red onion

-1/3 cup white vinegar

-1 tsp. salt

-2 cups grapes, cut in half

-8 bacon slices, cooked and crumbled

Steps:

1. Cook pasta according to directions.

2. Mix together mayonnaise, sugar, vinegar, and salt.

3. Add broccoli, pasta, and grapes, and mix well.

4. Cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours before serving.

5. Add toasted pecans and bacon pieces just before serving.