pasta salad

Pasta salad, my new standby. Makes great lunches and dinners, as well as an excellent side dish. I can eat it straight while it's still warm from cooking the pasta, or really relish it when it's cold. While I don't stick to a recipe anymore, I'll share with y'all the one that gave me the idea/outline, from Mollie Katzen's Get Cooking.

best pasta salad
salt for the pasta water
3/4 pound fusilli, small penne, or orecchiette pasta
5 T olive oil
3/4 t minced garlic, about 1 medium clove
3/4 c very finely minced red onion
1/3 c grated Parmesan cheese
3 T red wine vinegar
3/4 t salt
1/8 t freshly ground black pepper
1 medium bell pepper, any color, diced
half a medium cucumber, peeled, seeded, and diced

1. Put a large pot of cold water to boil over high heat, and add a tablespoon of salt. Have your colander ready. Once the water boils, add the pasta and keep the heat high. Cook for the time recommended on the package, tasting to make sure it's not overcooked. When it is just tender enough to bite into comfortable but not ye mushy, dump the water plus pasta into the colander and shake to drain.
2. While the pasta is cooking, combine the olive oil, garlic, onion, Parmesan, vinegar, salt, and black pepper in a large bowl and whisk to blend. Add the pasta to this bowl after it's drained, stirring to coat all the pasta. Set aside to cool to room temperature.
3. Add the bell pepper and cucumber, and mix gently but thoroughly. Serve at room temperature, or chill and serve cold.

Okay, so I tried it this way. and it works. but that leaves me room to manipulate.

I take whatever pasta I have, but usually corkscrew or bowtie, and cook it. I then drain it, coat it with enough cheese so it looks like every piece has got some stuck to it (which is why you do it while everything is still hot, the cheese sticks to the pasta), and then dress it with some Italian dressing or marinade. I used ranch one time even, and it worked just fine (though I did wait until it was cool to add the ranch dressing just before eating). And add whatever vegetables you want--I usually use carrots and broccoli because those are standards in my refrigerator, but bell peppers and cucumbers would be delightful. I've added corn to add a little more substance, which turned out just fine. I've thought about chickpeas, but haven't. I've also used the grated Parmesan my mom has for spaghetti because it was the only cheese she had in the refrigerator, which meant I used a heck of a lot more cheese, but it still worked fine.

So tinker with it and make it yours, but you'll have to share it with me. This is going to be a lunchtime staple for me now that I'm starting to take my lunch to work regularly.