Perfect Picnic Pasta Salad

Ingredients
1 pound (usually this is 1 box) dried fusilli pasta (other types such as penne, rotini, or farfalle would also work just fine)
1 cup bell pepper, diced (1 medium)
1 cup cucumber, sliced into half or quarter moons

1 cup broccoli, cut into small florets
1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved

1 cup black olives, sliced

1/3 cup red onion, diced

1/3 cup fresh herbs (basil and/or parsley) (optional)

1 cup cubed vegan mozzarella or tofu (optional)

Dressing
1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil

1/4 cup red wine vinegar

2 tablespoons lemon juice

2 teaspoon dijon mustard

1 tablespoon maple syrup (or other sweetener) (optional)

1 garlic clove, minced very small

1 teaspoon herbs de Provence (or italian seasoning, or oregano)

1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

Directions

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add pasta and cook until just past al dente, 9 to 11 minutes (or whatever the packaging recommends). Drain and rinse well under cold water. Toss with a bit of olive oil to keep from sticking while it finishes cooling.

While the pasta cooks, make the dressing. Whisk together the dressing ingredients until blended. 

Once the pasta has cooled to at least room temperature, mix the dressing into the pasta. Then mix in the veggies. Taste for seasoning and adjust with salt and pepper as needed. 

Can be served immediately, but ideally it should be refrigerated for at least 30 minutes - 2 hours to allow the pasta and veggies to soak up the dressing. Can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.

Adapted From
https://www.inspiredtaste.net/38019/easy-pasta-salad-recipe/

https://www.loveandlemons.com/pasta-salad/

Snickerdoodle Cookies

Ingredients
1/2 cup vegan butter (typically 1 stick)
2/3 cup cane sugar (or white sugar)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
1-1/2 cup all purpose (white) flour
1 teaspoon cream of tartar
1 teaspoon baking soda

1-1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon oatmilk (or other non-dairy milk)

For Rolling

3 tablespoons cane sugar

1 teaspoon cinnamon

Directions

Add the butter and sugar to an electric mixer and whisk them together for about 2 minutes, until the mixture appears light and creamy. Add in the vanilla and apple cider vinegar and mix in.

Add in the flour, cream of tartar, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt and mix in by hand (don’t use the electric mixer for this part) until it forms a crumbly dough.

Then add in the oatmilk. The added moisture will help it hold together in a proper dough.

(Pause here, if you want to chill the dough overnight before baking).

Preheat the oven to 375°F. While the oven is preheating, place the dough in the refrigerator to chill.

When you're ready to bake, roll the cookie dough into balls and then roll the balls in the cinnamon and sugar mixture and place them onto a parchment lined baking tray. Flatten the dough balls just a bit, into thick disks. You can sprinkle more of the cinnamon sugar mixture on top of the balls before they go in the oven.

Bake for 10 minutes. They probably won't looked finished. Remove from the oven and let the cookies firm up and cool down directly on the tray. After about 5-10 minutes of cooling on the tray, transfer cookies to a cooling rack to finish cooling.

Makes about 14 cookies.

Adapted From
https://lovingitvegan.com/vegan-snickerdoodles/#recipe