A cold pasta salad is something great to have on hand for a cookout or when you know you are going to have company in and out, and you need to have something pre-made. I had a good friend over this weekend, as well as some additional company, and they all seemed to really enjoy it. There is a little prep time involved, but once it is done, keeps for several days, has great color, and is delicious with all the seasonal veggies tossed in.  As far as pasta goes, using a quinoa makes this dish gluten-free!

Ingredients:

1 box of quinoa pasta (8 oz)

1 zucchini, sliced ¼ inch thick, then quartered

½ bell pepper, chopped into medium sized chunks

2 tomatoes, diced into ½ inch cubes

2 ears of corn, boiled until done.

12 oz of a soy sausage (I used Tofurky Italian Sausage. It was pre-cooked, and cubed into small pieces)

1 chili pepper, chopped small

Olive oil to drizzle

4 tablespoons of balsamic vinegar

4 tablespoons of lime juice

Sea Salt

2 tablespoons Basil, dried

2 tablespoons Oregano, dried

1 teaspoon of garlic powder

Cook the pasta according to the package (same with your sausage) and place aside. In a large bowl, add your tomatoes, pasta, and sausage. I cooked up my peppers and zucchini before adding them in, but you could also add them in raw if you wanted to. If you are going to cook them, heat a drizzle of olive oil over medium-high heat in a pan, until they edges and around the sides start to brown. Then add them into the bowl alone with everything else.

I had my corn pre-cooked, and just took a knife to the side to take it off the cob. Since it is in season right now, it was really a great addition.

Add the chili pepper, and herbs, then drizzle generously with olive oil, and add in the rest of the liquid, drizzling over. One everything is in the bowl, with a large spoon, fold over the pasta and veggies until everything is folded in together and has a light covering of the vinegar, oil and lime juice. Chill for a few hours, and then dig in. You can also heat it, but I much prefer it cold on those hot summer days!

This is a recipe I like to whip up when I need something very easy.  My Dad’s side of the family is Italian, so this is just something I picked up over time. It is a bit time consuming, as you have to let the tomatoes cook down, but the end result is lovely, and it truly is simple. I like it because it is chunky, and has a real texture.

Ingredients:

Two quart jars of tomatoes

1 bell pepper

2 cloves of garlic, minced fine

2 tablespoons of oregano

Half of an onion

8 oz of mushrooms, sliced (regular sized package)

Teaspoon of basil

2-4 tablespoons of olive oil

Go ahead and put the tomatoes on the stove on low-low/medium and let them simmer.  Add in the oregano and basil at this point. Stir about every 30 minutes. In a separate pan, add all the rest of the ingredients, and sauté on medium-medium/high for about 10 minutes. You want the mushrooms to get nice and soft, and the onions clear. Then throw them into the pot as well. I cook this for roughly three hours, stirring every 30 minutes.

Once the sauce has thickened, and it’s running, it’s all done. Simple, huh? Throw over some pasta and enjoy

Thanks to my roomie for helping make the batch you see here! Check her out over at: http://lilmisswisecracker.com

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