What I do when I'm not working.

Truly kickass pasta salad

Normally I hate pasta salad. I don't hate this one. Warning: it will make all vampires in your neighborhood very scarce.

Boil 1/2 pound of pasta, preferably something twisty or round-y or ridged.

While the pasta is cooking to the al dente stage, combine:

3/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup red balsamic vinegar
2 tablespoons capers
about a teaspoon of anchovy paste
about a teaspoon of black pepper
5 big cloves of garlic

In a blender and whirrrrrr until it's all unlumpy and creamy.

Drain cooked pasta and dump in bowl. Follow with enough of the dressing to coat--you may not need all of it. Let it cool down a bit.

Add:

*1 cucumber, peeled, seeded, and diced
*1 diced red pepper
*2 cans quartered artichoke hearts, torn up with your hands while you giggle
*1 pint of quartered or halved cherry tomatoes--the really sweet sort you have to stop snacking on as you cook
*enough black olives to make you hum under your breath. Kalamatas are good.
*some cheese, cubed. Mozzerella is yummy, though I'm partial to a nice mild Muenster.

You want something that's mostly veggies, with pasta as a filler. Sometimes I add tiny whole broiled mushrooms or chunks of cooked chicken. Sometimes I add bits of ham or salami. Sometimes I don't add anything extra and simply sit on the floor, eating the salad out of the bowl with my big wooden mixing spoon.