pasta salad weather

it is hot, and worse, humid. temperature is 30, with the humidex it feels like 37+. so, i'm not on the bicycle - mornings would be ok, but the ride home in the sun would kill me. instead, i've been walking to work, and taking the bus home. not ideal, but better than bus both ways!

i love summer cooking, because for me it means some kind of meat on the bbq plus a green salad. if i could, i'd eat that every day of the week. but the rest of the family likes a bit more variety.

so, one of my plans for the summer is to wait for the next cool day (soonish, i hope), cook up a pile of pasta, toss with olive oil, and then freeze it. that way, we can have pasta salad (which the kiddo is more likely to eat) on a regular basis without heating up the house all the time.

some pasta salad recipe ideas we'll be testing out this summer:

• pesto, roasted veg (zucchini, red pepper, onion, artichoke)
• crab, broccoli, green pepper, black-eyed peas, green onion, mayo
• bacon, lettuce, tomato, celery, mayo
• broccoli, parsley, romano cheese, garlic, olive oil
• green onion, asparagus, peas, mint
• spinach, sun dried tomato, olive oil, pine nuts, parsley, egg
• spinach, ham, tomato, goat cheese, mustard
• yellow pepper, green pea, chicken, pine nuts, tomato, vinaigrette
• zucchini, romano beans, basil, garlic, olive oil, oregano, basil
• italian sausage, red pepper, raddichio, bocconcini, basil
• cucumber, tomato, feta, black olives, oregano, lemon, olive oil
• steak, green beans, dijon, olive oil, oregano, tomato
• shrimp, celery, red onion, olives, tomato, vinaigrette