summer food

I was grocery shopping today, and wishing that I could just make a big batch of something to take to work for lunch all week. It would be so much cheaper and easier...but I couldn't think of anything to make that I wouldn't get tired of after one meal. Then I thought of summer vacations at home and how we'd sit by the pool drinking iced tea/lemonade with spearmint by the gallon, and eat - almost exclusively - pasta salad. My mom makes a super delicious, super simple pasta salad that I would gladly eat for a whole summer, let alone just a week. So here it is, if any of you are wanting a basic meal that won't require lots of stove or oven time during this hot weather:

It's just tomatoes:



Parmesan cheese:



Pistachios, chopped up as fine as you want (we usually eat about half of our supply as we're shelling them):



And, of course, pasta:



Just combine them all, and add anything else you'd like. I stuck with olive oil, salt and pepper, and I sauteed some shallots just for kicks and giggles:



And it might just be me, but I had to exert a lot of self-control to put it in the fridge, instead of my belly. This is good stuff, friends.