Apples Way Pasta Salad

Summertime is definitely pasta salad time (if you don't believe me, ask my blog: see In The Summertime Pasta Salad). Anyway, as I was saying, not only do we love it, but I'm always looking for that next great recipe. This one came to me via Ann (see I'm on a Mexican Toma-to). She made it and brought it over and it was an instant hit: rotini pasta, Parmesan cheese, ginger sesame dressing, Granny Smith apples (which are really the key to the whole thing as they not only a tart sweetness but also a necessary crunch) and cubed ham. Yeah, the ham seemed to be the wild card with me too. So when I recreated it (and you'll see below the recipe leaves room for interpretation, I omitted the meat. And used a slightly different dressing. And only had fussili on hand. Nonetheless, it was well received, yet I found something else was needed - something to add both color and flavor to this tried and true formula. I'm thinking salami and maybe a different cheese, a soft cubed variety instead of grated. Most definitely a work in progress - you know, the same only completely different.

Apple's Way, the 1974 short-lived show from Earl Hamner Jr. Yes, that's right, on the heels of his hit show The Walton's - a wholesome multi-generational family running a saw mill in Virginia, he decided to mix it up a bit with a wholesome multi-generational family from L.A. who decide to take it down a notch by relocating back to the patriarch's hometown (Appleton, WI) and run a grist mill. Ronny Cox (instead of Ralph Waite), hunky Vince Van Patten (instead of Richard Thomas) and a very young pre-Family Kristy McNichol (instead of six random other children). Needless to say, although imitation is the highest form of flattery, and even with guest stars such as Farrah Fawcett pre-Majors, the show didn't hold up and lost it's crisp after only one season.

Enjoy the cheesy opening credits:

The Recipe: (according to Ann)

Half a box of rotini (cooked)
Handful of grated Parmesan
2 green onions (presumably chopped, but she doesn't say)
half a cup of diced ham
2 small peeled and diced apples
1/4 cup ("tops") of Marzettis Simply Dressed Ginger Sesame salad dressing (I used Trader Joe's Sesame Soy Ginger Vinagrette)

Toss and enjoy.