Too Hot!

This was one of those miserable day when the feels like temperature is much hotter than the actual temp.  It was only in the mid 90's today, but the humidity made the air feel kind of like going into a steam bath with no exit.   Since it was nice and toasty, I surely did not want to compound the issue by using the oven and only wanted minimal use of the stovetop.

I looked through the fridge to see what was about to ruin produce was available without going to the store and dinner kind of planned itself.  I had 2 partially used boxes of pasta, a cup(ish) of cooked green beans, 1/2 clamshell of cherry tomatoes, 1 red onion, 1/2 jar of roasted red peppers, 1/2 cucumber, about a tablespoon of pine nuts and 3 individual mozzarella sticks.  Woo hoo! I love using things that would become compost tomorrow!

Minimal Cooking Pasta Salad

Salad:
1 1/2 cup pasta (any shape you have) cooked, drained and cooled
1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
1 cup leftover cooked drained green beans
1 small red onion, minced
2 halves jarred roasted pepper (or 1 med fresh roasted pepper) cut in slices
1/2 cucumber peeled and cut in half moon slices
3 mozzarella sticks (string cheese type sticks) cut into "pennies"
1 tablespoon pine nuts (optional but they add a lot of flavor and light crunch)

Dressing:
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
2 teaspoons Cavender's Greek Seasoning
1/2 cup olive oil (regular or e.v.)

Put the cooled pasta in a large bowl. Add the remaining ingredients in no particular order.  Pour the dressing over the salad* (This makes a lot of dressing and we used a little under half of it.  I saved the rest and will use it to marinate chicken to grill this weekend) and toss gently.  Serve on a breakfast plate and enjoy.

I thought about taking a picture of this but my phone was out of all charge and I was too hungry to wait so I ate it before shooting.  Sorry, but honestly it just looked like a chunky pasta salad.  The real flavor difference was the Cavander's and the pine nuts.  It was so good and such a nice cool, relatively light meal that was perfect for a hot summer night. The only change I will make is to pinch off a few basil leaves, chop them finely and sprinkle them over the top.  I guess it just felt too hot to even think of going outside to pick them.  Oh well, there is always next time.