I love pasta salad... I make a medditerean one with chicken, feta, sun-dried tomatoes, and kalamata olives that is good warm or cold.  I also love Italian pasta salads with chunks of salami and provolone, tomatoes, artichoke hearts, and banana peppers.  You can't go wrong with a good macaroni salad either, but my favorite are ones that still have texture and crunch (from celery or some other type of veg.). There's one that I make that is a "healthy"version of an Italian pasta salad (no salami or cheese), but lots of fresh veggies and basil.  I'm always on the look out for new yummy pasta salad recipes!  

Mazie, oh my dear you are in for a real sweet beet treat! Roasted beets are delicious. Be warned, you will want to gobble them all down after cooled from roasting so make sure you save some to chill for the pasta salad LOL They are addicting, make extra! Do you like FETA? If so I recommend feta with your beet salad. If you don't mind I want to suggest a recipe I will come up with right now since my suggestions are starting to look sloppy and all over the map lol I am going to keep this one rather simple because the beets need to be the highlight/star of the dish and main flavor.

Mazie's Rosemary-Roasted Beet Pasta Salad

Cooked and chilled pasta ~ Whole grain spirals, bow ties or a small round shape <not a fan of macoroni> like shells, radiatore, etc. work perfect. See this for ideas: http://www.foodsubs.com/PastaShapes.html

Add in..

Rosemary roasted baby beets

Raw or roasted asparagus cut into bite sized pieces

Protein addition... I have a vegetarian and seafood suggestion, take your pick. Vegetarian would be lemon-herb marinated Italian white beans... Seafood option would be lemon-herb shrimp or prawns. Either will do well, the lemon-herb marinade really adds a nice touch.

Handful of your favorite fresh herbs, chop them well. Only pick a few so flavors can mesh well. I recommend fresh basil for a bit of bit and then a sweet one to mellow things down like marjoram or thyme.

If you like feta, add some nice fresh chunks of feta in - Feta and beets = a tasty marriage

Evoo drizzle, sea salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste

What do you think?

I wonder if Sea Turtle saw all our suggestions... I know she has been on but no feedback to any of us so I assume she didn't see it. I wonder when the contest ends and what her final pick is! I hope she remembers this post! can't wait for juicy details.

I have been worry about her to BB..  Anyone heard from her ??

Gayla, she recently posted about flies/bugs and TMJ so between the two that doesn't sound too pleasant, I do hope she is okay.