Pasta Salad with Blue Cheese

Leftover blue cheese + lunch the next day = pasta salad. Ryan got up on a chair and watched me the whole time, and was stealing red pepper and celery to munch on. I'm really happy that he likes to try new things and isn't a picky eater. He had a big plate of the finished salad too. I'd like to add I sure wasn't eating blue cheese pasta salads when I was three, more like fried potatoes and macaroni. :P

Ingredients:

8 ounces dry rotini
1 strip bacon, cooked and diced
1 red pepper, diced
1 cup celery, diced
1/2 red onion, diced
4 ounces Blue Cheese, crumbled
4 tablespoons mayonnaise
2 tablespoons milk
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pepper
3 tablespoons parsley, chopped finely

1/2 cup walnuts, chopped
1/2 cup sesame seeds


Directions:

Cook pasta according to directions. Immediately rinse with cold water and drain well, then transfer to large mixing bowl. Chill in the fridge.

Meanwhile, cook strip of bacon and dice, then transfer to a medium bowl.

Add celery, red pepper, red onion, salt, and pepper.

Combine blue cheese, milk, and mayo to make a smooth paste.

Remove the pasta from the fridge and combine everything, including the parsley.

Heat a clean frying pan until very hot, remove from heat and add walnuts and sesame seeds. Toss and swirl about as they pop and smoke a little. :) Add to pasta once the sesame seeds toast. Serve immediately, or serve as is.