I’m prepping for a beach trip with a few other ladies and I thought I’d share this beautiful little pasta salad.  It’s a dessert salad but there is no mayo or marshmallows or weird stuff like in Midwestern dessert salads.  I mean, I like those salads, but this one seems healthier.  And because of the no mayo thing it is safe to take to the beach or on a picnic.

The recipe comes from me after piecing together what goes into a similar salad at the pasta salad stand at Roots Country Market in Manheim, PA.  The proprietor lists the ingredients but obviously not the measurements so I improvised. What I like about this salad is its versatility; the basic ingredients are just categories and you can customize the salad to your taste.

The main ingredients are:

• 1 regular container of non-dairy dessert topping
• 1/3 box of very small pasta (Pastina or Acini di Pepe)
• Fresh fruit, dried fruit, nuts, mini chocolate chips, etc. to taste

That’s it!  Thaw the dessert topping if it is frozen.  Cook the pasta and drain using a mesh strainer (you could use cheesecloth, too).  Rinse with cold water until the pasta is cool.

In a bowl, mix pasta, dessert topping, and fruit.  I used a package of sweetened dried blueberries, ½ c. fresh pitted and quartered cherries, and 1/2 c. cocoa almonds as well as a healthy sprinkle of chia seeds.

I used this Pinterest trick to pit the cherries using a straw.  Not bad for a small batch, though it I was doing a lot of cherries I’d want to use a real pitter.

That’s it!  Refrigerate and serve cold.    Now, cross your fingers that I don’t get eaten by sharks out there!

Yum!