Pizza Pasta Salad

Pizza Pasta Salad made a quick, fresh dinner that was perfect on a night of multiple activities requiring a grab-and-go meal.

This really can be as simple or as boosted as you choose.  Use what you have or what you love, toss with your favourite homemade or readymade Italian dressing, and serve with some giant homemade garlic croutons or garlic bread.

Gather:

Pasta, cooked, drained, and cooled
Thinly sliced red onion
Thinly sliced green pepper
Pepperonchi rings
Cherry tomatoes sliced in half
Pepperoni, sliced
Bocconcini
Grated parmigano regiano
Fresh basil
Salt and pepper
Italian dressing

Do it:

Toss everything together and serve on some arugula, if you want to get fancy.

Add roasted red pepper, olives, or marinated artichokes.

Sub in pancetta for the pepperoni or leave the meat out all together.  This dish is completely customizable and is perfect for serving a big crowd as you you can just add more of everything to accommodate the number of people you are feeding.

Stewed Rhubarb with Ginger

The first of my rhubarb this season has shot up with all the rain.

Today seemed as good a day as any to harvest the largest stalks and chop them up for stewed rhubarb.

No real recipe or amounts here, so to speak.

I simply chopped up what I had, added a splash of orange juice and a generous knob of grated ginger root, sugar to taste, and simmered everything until it was soft, but chunky.  Added a splash of vanilla and spooned into glass jars to cool.

My favourite way to enjoy stewed rhubarb is spooned over balkan yogurt and sprinkled with chopped nuts or granola.

It tastes delicious over vanilla ice-cream or spooned on top of pound cake, swirled into warm oatmeal or eaten from a spoon directly from the jar.

The ginger gave it a nice spiciness, but some grated orange or lemon zest or culinary lavender all taste lovely as well.