Trash(y) salad

Yesterday, I got into my housekeeping groove and didn't want to quit. I was doing laundry, washing dishes, throwing stuff away, and I didn't want to stop to go to the grocery store, but I was crazy hungry. It came to me that we hadn't been to the grocery store all week, and we used to go almost every day for something. Granted, we had dinner out with Mr. B.'s parentpeople one night, but other than that, we had leftovers and madeovers. I saw no reason to break the cycle for lunch on a Friday. After cleaning the kitchen, I looked around and saw a lot of odds and ends. Odds and ends are the perfect opportunity for...

Trash(y) Pasta Salad!


Serves as many people as you want. Just add more stuff. (I am SO technical!)

8 oz. dry rotini (or fusili, or for true trashy salad, the cheapest elbow mac you can find. I had wacky mac, so mine was a trace more garbage blanche than white trash--just like me!)
red wine vinegar
olive oil
herbs and spices
low-fat mayo (if you're doing better than I am, you've got yogurt in your fridge, and can mix it 50/50 with the mayo... I wasn't there on Friday)
sugar
delicious veggies you need to use

Boil water. While you wait for water to boil, mix about a tablespoon olive oil with about 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar. Add spices. I used Italian seasoning, garlic powder, salt, pepper, basil and oregano. Whisk in small bowl (I used a measuring cup). Add about 2 tablespoons mayo, or your mayo-yogurt mix. (Some people like to use reduced fat sour cream. I'd go easy on the vinegar if you're gonna do that.) Add a little sugar. Whisk some more (I say whisk... I did in fact whisk it with a fork... a whisk was entirely unneccesary for this operation) and let all that get comfy and intimate together while you dump pasta in the pot and chop veggies. I had an orange bell pepper we've had since... I don't know, but I'm surprised it's still good. I also have a ton of baby carrots, so I sliced them thinly and tossed them in the pot for the last 4 minutes or so of the pasta cooking so they could slightly soften. I also chopped a tomato.

When pasta is done, drain and rinse with cool water. Dump in bowl, add veggies. Pour some dressing over, stir, and add more dressing if necessary. Salt, pepper, and put in fridge. If you're starving like I was, you can stick it in the freezer for a cold minute and then put your face in it after you've grated some fresh parm on top.

This would also be fantastic with peas, ham, chicken, or any odds and ends things you have in the fridge. I mean, I wouldn't put fruit in it, but you get the idea.

Not the healthiest, but I made it entirely from staples (not the metal kind, ew) and leftovers.