Wondeful Wednesday

It was sunny and chilly Wednesday morning, but without that damn wind. It eventually got up to 65 degrees F., however.

I stopped at Westborn on the way home for lunch and bought two English cucumbers, two boxes of grape tomatoes (I wanted cherry tomatoes, but they didn’t have any), a green pepper and some green onions.

I ate the rest of the chicken and rice mixture for lunch (still tasty!)

When I got home after work, it was a gorgeous day. So, I went out back and cut the tarp loose from my winter-stashed stuff. I set up the patio furniture, put the wheelbarrow back to its summer home and the hoses under the outside spigot. The I dragged the tarp into the garage and arranged it on top of the lawn tractor to thoroughly dry.

I started raking the front lawn (to get rid of the winter debris) but only got about one-third done before my back, shoulders and arms started to remind me I hadn’t done this in about a year. So, erring on the side of caution, I quit.

Inside again, with everything buttoned up for the evening, I began making dinner. I have been jonesing for cold pasta salad, so I put a big pot of water on to boil. When it did, I added kosher salt and a pound of rotini pasta.

I set the timer for seven minutes and started on the veggies. I peeled one of the English cukes (I know you don’t have to, but I wanted the color of the green pepper to pop), cut it into quarters and then cut them into chunks. I used both containers of the grape tomatoes by cutting each tomato in half and put them in a bowl, adding salt (to draw out some of the moisture). I diced up the green pepper and, after cutting off most of the green stems, thinly sliced a bunch of green onions.

By them the pasta was done, so I drained it (but didn’t rinse it – you need the starch for the dressing to stick) and spread it on a half-sheet pan to cool. Yes, it will stick together, but stirring in the dressing will break it apart.

When it was cool, I added it to the veggies, adding in a drained can of sliced black olives. I made a simple Italian vinaigrette with red wine vinegar, olive oil, dried oregano, dried basil, parsley and fresh chives (my chives outside are already about five inches tall). I added the vinaigrette to the bowl and mixed it all up. I taste-tested it and then seasoned it with salt and pepper. I put it in the fridge to chill.

I watched the last of the evening news and then watched the Red Wings game. When I was hungry, I made up a big bowl of the pasta salad. I did have to add a bit more salt, but it was everything I’d hoped for!

I went to sleep about 10:30 PM, after having a few more snacks of pasta salad. Hmmm... maybe next time I’ll add some broccoli florets for a bit more crunch.