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{Today I am partnering with Andy Boy, I used their Broccoli Rabe in this easy summer pasta salad that I know you will all love!}

Well, happy Father’s Day!!

I cannot even believe it’s already June 19^th, and that according to the 2016 calendar, tomorrow it will officially, officially be summer. Like whoa, time sure is flying, huh?

Seeing as today is all about dads, I hope you are able to get together with yours. Whether it’s time spent outside… a boat ride, a trip to the beach, an art show, a bike ride, a BBQ, a walk, or simply just sitting outside in the shade of a great tree… whatever you do, I hope it’s something fun! And I most definitely hope your day comes to a close gathered around a table with your dad, eating good food. Which is why I knew this caprese pasta salad was kind of the perfect recipe to share with you all today.

Summer is all about a few simple things to me. Warm weather, sunshine, tomatoes, fresh berries, fresh stone fruits, pasta salads, anything grilled and obviously all the ice cream I can get my hands on. When thinking about summer recipes I pretty much always try to incorporate at least one or more fresh vegetables and or fruits into the recipe. I think this pasta salad has at least four… garden tomatoes, garden basil, perfectly ripe avocados and broccoli rabe!!

And guys, when I say garden tomatoes and basil, I really just mean farmers market, cause as I said last week, the summer garden is simply not happening up here this year. ☹

OK, so before we dive deeper into this avocado caprese pasta, I just have to give one big shout out to MY dad, because again it is Father’s Day, and well, today is HIS day…whether he likes it or not (strangely both of my parents really hate Mother’s Day and Father’s Day).

Yes, they are odd.

Anyway, my dad is the greatest and if you guys have read my blog for any amount of time than you already know this. He’s been my right hand guy for the last year+ helping me with anything and everything I could ever need. Dishes, crazy early morning airport pick-ups, grocery runs, pseudo personal therapist (he’ll actually listen to me complain), prop hunter, floor washer and basically everything in between. Not to mention the twenty-two years he’s put into raising me…and putting up with me (my preteen years were not my finest).

Anyway, point is, that my dad’s the best, and I’m pretty excited (and lucky) I get to call him dad every single day. It’s actually kind of funny that I am sharing this pasta recipe today because oddly this has been one of his favorite recipes of the year. He has always loved pasta salads and I cannot remember a summer without a pasta salad night at least once week. Yep, he used to do um up good!

BUT I cannot lie, this pasta may just nudge his out by a smidge, because well… avocado + buffalo mozzarella (or burrata), oh yeah!! For some reason, dad didn’t use much avocado in his cooking while I was growing up. And the mozzarella we ate was always pre shredded and bland as ever, so this is definitely a little bit of an upgrade!

All right, so here is how this pasta goes. You only need a handful of ingredients: basil pesto, broccoli rabe, tomatoes, basil, avocados, pasta and mozzarella. Oh and salt + pepper.

Super simple, yet super yummy and satisfying.

I love the mix of raw produce to grilled produce, so I kept my tomatoes raw and then grilled the broccoli rabe for a nice texture plus flavor boost. It’s perfection and it really makes this a great summer salad for picnics, easy lunches and dinners!

And that’s that guys! I hope you all enjoy your day with dad, eat plenty of good food and then follow it up with yummy ice cream! Got to love a good Sunday!

Oh, and clearly my dad makes for the best model to show off all my recipes! Thanks dad!

{This post is sponsored by Andy Boy . Thank you for supporting the brands that keep Half Baked Harvest cooking!! }