salad season part 1

now that it's officially hot in texas, i've started making pasta salads for lunch. it's light (ha!) and nutritious (ha!) and yummy (for sure!). over the years, i've gone through phases of making different pasta salads over and over again, but i always come back to this one that i made up. so cool off from a hot day working in the garden (or office, or house or whatever) with some of this yummy goodness.

mo's pasta salad
1 box tricolor pasta
1 red pepper
1 hot-house cucumber
1 can sliced black olives
italian dressing
feta cheese

while the pasta's cooking (according to the package directions), cut up the pepper and cucumber -- bite size is good -- and drain the can of olives. throw all that in a bowl. once the pasta's done, drain it and rinse it off with cool water to get the temperature back down -- you don't want to cook the veggies. toss it all together, add a little dressing (just so the pasta doesn't stick together) then refrigerate. when you're ready to serve, put some more dressing on it -- however much you want, it adds a nice flavor. and sprinkle with feta cheese. voila! yummy pasta salad that's a little good for you.

i've told people about this recipe and they've adapted it for themselves. use green pepper instead of red, cherry tomatoes instead of the red pepper. whatever. i think the colors look gorgeous, there's a lot of crunch, some salty. it's just gooooooooood. try it now! :)