Kitchen Sink Pasta Salad
I made pasta salad Tuesday night (another night alone; Todd has a busy week). Lots of leftovers, so we both took some to work for lunch on Wednesday. I wasn't going to write it up, but Todd raved so much about it last night that I thought I'd share:
Boil up some mini tortellini. While that's cooking, chop roasted red and yellow peppers (I had some left over from a steam-table lunch the other day when my eyes were way too big for my stomach), cooked ham, scallions, and artichoke hearts (I used unmarinated; I find the marinade overwhelming). Make a vinaigrette in the bottom of a big bowl, and then toss everything together in it. Easy, makes a lot, and I think it was better the second day. We used to eat pasta salad all the time when we were newly married and really poor. Maybe Todd's raving was nostalgia.
Of course, this could go in any direction: Greek, with feta, olives, oregano; antipasto, with diced salami, marinated veggies and cheese; nicoise, with olives, tuna, green beans, red onion; southwestern with diced cheddar, scallions, cilantro, chicken, cumin. I think you'd have to vary the type of pasta you used.

sounds irresistable, especially the southwestern version: i'll let you know, shall i?
Yes, do. We used to do a lot of southwestern-style cooking when we first moved out here (from Colorado). A corn and bean salsa was my standby picnic potluck dish. Never thought to toss it with some tortellini, though. I bet that would be good. Let me know.