On May 4, 12:58*am, "Julie Bove" > wrote:
> I made pasta salad tonight but as usual I wound up with waaaay too much of
> it. *Seems no matter what I do there is always too much. *I have different
> versions that I make. *Basically there is the pasta, fresh veggies cut in
> strips, slices, chunks or left whole depending on size, olives and some kind
> of protein. *Dressed with some kind of Italian dressing.
>
> Tonight I used a quinoa pasta because it contains protein and also added
> kidney beans and chickpeas for more protein. *I only used black olives but
> will add some stuffed green ones to my portion. *The vegetables are sweet
> peppers (green, orange and red), grape tomatoes (safe ones), radishes, green
> onions, celery and cucumbers.
>
> I have leftover peppers, radishes and tomatoes. *Only had half a cucumber so
> that worked out well. *Used part of the green onions for my dinner tonight
> which was nachos. *Yes! *Nachos. *So will have to come up with a use for the
> leftover veggies.
>
> But when I began to assemble the salad, I realized I didn't cook enough
> pasta for the amount of veggies I had. *So I had to cook some more and now I
> have a big bowl of it plus what I have packed up for our dinner tomorrow.
>
> I like to use a wide variety of veggies in my salad. *I guess that's part of
> the problem. *I have tried to buy things from the salad bar. *I can't always
> get what I want though and tonight I wasn't near a store with a salad bar so
> made do with what I had and bought a few additional things. *And even when I
> do use the salad bar, I seem to still wind up with too much.
>
> I did do better than I usually do. *Most of the time I have a HUGE bowl of
> it and eventually some gets thrown out because there is only so much we can
> eat. *I am hoping we can either eat this two days in a row or maybe just
> come home and eat the leftovers rather than go out to eat on Friday. *But
> sometimes we just want enough pasta salad for that one meal. *So what's the
> trick for doing that if you are cooking for just two or three people?

it's not rocket science, Julie.
If you're making too much salad by including too many veggies, just
don't add as much.
Either cut back on the variety or only use half as much of each veggie
as you are now. Obviously, if you're using less in your pasta salad,
you will have to use up the balance of that pepper, onion, whatever in
something else.
Just plan your meals better. It's home ec 101.