Wednesday

So, I went to work Wednesday with a feeling of satisfaction (the whittled down ToDo list) and hope (it's not supposed to rain again until Thursday). I have it in my mind that I want a light, "Italian" spring pasta salad for dinner. Now, I have some ingredients on hand (the dried Rotini twists, three cucumbers, lemons, three young yellow summer squash and a pound of fresh asparagus.

Now, why did I specify a light, "Italian" spring pasta salad? Because, most times when I eat a pasta salad these days, it is either tasteless and mushy, or the flavors are so overwhelming (picture heavy Italian dressing) that my taste buds don't know how to react.

So, I stopped at Westborn on my lunch. I picked up some fresh, flat leaf parsley, a handful of fresh basil, a container of grape tomatoes, a can of sliced black olives (Lu's favorite addition and one I can still really get behind) and some scallions. The recipe I found called for fresh mozzarella, but I still have a lot of provolone cheese (remember the homemade deli beef?) so, I think I will skip that.

Back at home at 5:15 PM, I checked my voicemail (nothing) and email (nothing) and changed my clothes. Then I went out to cut the front lawn. I used my new pushmower and, while it took me about an hour, it was a much finer cut than using the riding lawn mover. It also worked great on the ditch (which is why I bought it).

Back inside, I took the asparagus and snapped one of them. That gave me the approximate place to discard the tough stems. I started a pot of boiling, salted water for the pasta. When I had a rolling boil, I threw in the one-inch sections of asparagus, and blanched them for three minutes. I pulled them out with my strainer and dropped them into to ice water to shock them, stop the cooking process and retain their green color.

I threw in a pound of Rotini twists and cooked them to al dente. Then I drained and rinsed the hell out of them, leaving them in the colander to cool.

While they were cooking, I started to prep the veggies. I cut all the grape tomatoes in half. I peeled two cucumbers, quartered them lengthwise and cut them into 1/4-inch slices. I cut off the top and bottom of one of the summer squash, quartered it lengthwise as well and cut them into the same 1/4-inch slices. I took a bunch of scallions and, after trimming them, cut both the white and the green into thin slices. I opened and drained the can of black olives.

Then I took my biggest mixing bowl and put it together, tossing it with my hands to make sure everything was evenly distributed. Next I made my dressing, using the zest of one lemon, the juice of the same lemon and three times the amount of extra virgin olive oil. I whisked that together, slowly adding the oil. I tasted it and seasoned it with salt and pepper.

I went out in the herb garden and picked some oregano. It's young yet, so I just stripped off the leaves and added them to the salad. I picked a good handful of the basil leaves (the ones I just bought) rolled them up tight and cut them into thin strips. Finally I took the slices of provolone cheese and cut them into thin strips, then cut the strips into small rectangles.

I added the dressing, pouring in as much as looked right, then adding a bit more (the pasta will soak it up overnight). I did eat a small bowl for my dinner, but really, pasta salad should spend the night in the fridge first, letting all the flavors get happy.

It was very, very good. I especially liked the blanched asparagus and the raw summer squash. And, the lemony dressing with the fresh herbs was just what I'd hoped for.

I went in to watch some TV, but that hour's walk around the front yard had tuckered me out, so I went to bed early.