This pasta salad is the perfect cold side for your next barbecue. It also makes a refreshing and light summer shalosh seudos dish.

When I was in school, we did not have official school lunches. Instead, someone from the community who was an amazing chef sold salads and sandwiches. Oh, how we loved his tuna and egg baguettes! Some of my friends couldn’t wait until lunch and would instead buy them for breakfast!

This chef’s pasta salad held a special place in my heart — it was just so good. Even on days when I brought my own lunch, on days when I promised myself I’d be “wary” of my carb intake, I still found myself making my way to the cafeteria line for some pasta salad. Every since high school, I’ve been constantly tasting pasta salads from different delis, and while I enjoy them, they are never like that high school pasta salad. Over the years, I’ve tried recreating it. This version is the closest I’ve come. It’s delicious — but in my mind, his was still better!

I love to make this in the summer for shalosh seudos or for a big BBQ. It makes a great side for my grilled burgers. This pasta salad lasts for several days in the fridge and always looks so pretty on the table.

The beauty of this salad is its simplicity — though if you want to make it a bit “fancier,” you can add chopped baby corn, chickpeas, diced onion, or any other veggie. I use a whole-grain pasta or the high-protein version that Barilla makes, but you can use any shape or type of pasta that works for you and your family.

I like to keep my pasta salad in these Pyrex dishes. They store well in the fridge and look great if you want to bring them directly to the table.