My Stolen, Most Awesome, Pasta Salad

I’m slowly, and lazily, recovering from my cold; just a little sniffly today. Lots of sleep and fluids is my motto, so I’ve not accomplished much other than sleeping and, um, drinking (juice, that is, although a beer or four would probably clear this puppy right up) . My excuse is that I had to work yesterday, and it was awful! Not work, just the fact that I didn’t get a four-day holiday weekend (cut to me, pouting just a little).

Let’s see, my big chores for la isla today have been to change from Christmas-themed to New Years-themed. Guess what was the most difficult? Coming up with party tunes for New Years Eve … there are soooo many from which to choose! It’s a WIP (that’s a work-in-progress, people) … Tubthumping is in because I love it; Pink and the Peas are just plain move it fun, and Lynyrd’s one of my all-time faves (along with Garth’s live version, which I have yet to find, and which will be replacing this version as soon as I do).

Who does that leave? Oh yeah! UB40 and Jimmy Buffet. Well duh, can’t have a party without them. The two new-to-me songs are by Rehab and Spirit of the West … jury’s still out, though. Rehab’s got a good rhythm, but I think a tad misogynistic for my tastes … and Spirit of the West makes me want to go out. To a pub. Right now.

I’ve also started working on my New Years resolutions, although I’ve come up with just the one, but it’s a doozy, so I’m okay with that … but that’s for another day. The only other thing I’ve done today is I made My Stolen Most Awesome Pasta Salad this afternoon, and no matter how many times I’ve washed my hands they still smell like red onion. Blecht! This is the recipe I stole from Brig … I’m posting it here, because you should give it a try (mmmm, yum, good stuff!):

Ingredients:

• 2 boxes Barilla Multi-Colored Rotini Pasta
• 1 large bottle Wishbone Robusto Italian Dressing
• 1 bag croutons, plain or Italian-style
• (Add-In) Fresh broccoli florets (1 large head, cut into very small sections)
• (Add-In) Black medium olives, whole (1 can)
• (Add-In) 2 Cups cherry tomatoes, whole
• (Add-In) 1 large green pepper, chopped
• (Add-In) 4 large mushroom heads (sliced)
• (Add-In) ½ large red onion, chopped
• (Add-In) 6 sticks celery, sliced
• (Add-In) half a 1” pepperoni log (about 4-5 inches, sliced and quartered)
• (Add-In) 2 bags cubed Kraft cheese (Colby Jack and Cheddar)
• (Add-In) 2 Tablespoons McCormick’s “Salad Supremo” for zest

Instructions:

1. Cook pasta al dente style … after cooking, drain water immediately and rinse with cold water until all pasta is cool (may take a few minutes).
2. After cooling pasta, splash ¼ cup Robusto Italian dressing over it before incorporating the Add-Ins.
3. Toss in the Add-Ins.
4. Toss with remainder of the Italian dressing.
5. Right before serving mix in McCormick’s Salad Supremo spices for zest.
6. Top with croutons or serve separately.

For those of you who wonder: after eating this for supper, yes, I fully expect to have a raging case of heartburn tonight. Mmmmm, so worth it!