It's not just a side dish anymore

Hope you day has gone well. I had to put in a couple of hours at work this morning, but have been able to relax a bit during the afternoon and I am now waiting for the new season of "Tru Blood" to start. Anyway tonight I made Supreme Pizza pasta Salad, now i know a lot of folks consider pasta salad a side item, but I think it can be a main dish anytime.

Ingredients

2 plum tomatoes, seeded and chopped(had tomatoes on hand, so i used a couple of medium side ones finely chopped)

1/2 medium red onion, chopped (got this already)

8 fresh white button mushrooms, sliced(had to buy these, so I just bought a small container of pre-sliced)

1 small green bell pepper, seeded and chopped(got one of these already)

1 stick pepperoni, casing removed and cut into a small dice(I would have had to buy this, but being a vegetarian, i am going to omit this)

1 pound ball fresh mozzarella or fresh smoked mozzarella, diced(I had this on hand from last night dish)

20 leaves fresh basil, torn or thinly sliced(Only had a couple of sprigs left, so I had to buy a lot of this item)

1 pound wagon wheel pasta(Store was out, so I went with that old pasta salad stand by bowtie pasta)

Dressing:
1 teaspoon garlic salt(had a really REALLY old thing fo this, so I played it safe and bought a new one)

1 teaspoon dried oregano leaves or Italian dried seasoning(actually had this on hand)

1 rounded tablespoon tomato paste(have this already

2 tablespoons red wine vinegar(have this on hand)

1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil(got it)

Freshly ground black pepper

Pour water into large pot over medium-high heat. Cook pasta to package specifications until al dente. Drain.

Combine tomatoes, onion, mushrooms, peppers, pepperoni(if you want to use it), mozzarella, basil and pasta in a big bowl. Whisk garlic salt, oregano or Italian seasoning, tomato paste and vinegar together. Stream in extra-virgin olive oil while continuing to whisk dressing.

When oil is incorporated, pour dressing over pasta salad, add a few grinds of black pepper to the bowl, then toss salad to coat evenly. Adjust your seasonings and serve salad.

I served this with some sliced pita bread.

The verdict.............well to be honest.......I am a big lover of pasta salads.......so it should not surprise you that I liked this one a lot. It is really filling and is something you could take to a potluck or family BBQ and now that people will enjoy you for your effort.

If you are like me and like to sometimes freelance on a recipe, I could also see adding a 1/4 pound or crumbled feta or even blue cheese to this to give it an even more wondrous flavor.

I have to say that, although cooking every night is at times a little tiring, I am having a great time doing this. Rachael Ray's recipes are a pleasure to cook and she seems to make it all so easy.

Everyone have a great evening.

Until tomorrow.........