Less Cooking, More Chopping: Pasta Salad with Asparagus, Feta and Kalamata Olives

100° F for the last 2 months, next 2 months.  This won't keep me from cooking, but it will lessen my use of oven, stove and (due to drought conditions) grill. It's a good time to take advantage of seasonal produce from your local farmers' markets, and though some of it requires cooking, you can often get away with a quick blanch or saute job and have a fully functional meal with minimal cooking. In this case, your total cook time is under 15 minutes and on the stove top.

Ingredients:
1/2 lb pasta (fusilli, bowtie, rotini, etc.) cooked according to package
1/4 cup kalamata olives, pitted and halved
1/4 cup feta cheese, crumbled
2 cups fresh tomatoes, diced (if large tomatoes aren't great, yet, use halved grape or cherry tomatoes)
1/4 cup yellow onion, diced
1/4 cup bell pepper, diced
1/4 cup celery, diced
Top halves from 1 lb. asparagus, coarsely chopped, blanched or steamed for 3-5 minutes
1-2 Tbs fresh oregano, chopped

Dressing: 
1/4 cup red wine and/or balsamic vinegar (I usually combine, about half and half)
1/4 cup olive oil
2-3 Tbs yellow or brown mustard

Drain cooked pasta in a colander and put it in a large bowl. Add half of the dressing and stir it a bit to cool, maybe 5 minutes. Add veggies and stir to coat. Refrigerate for an hour, then add feta and mix. Salt and pepper to taste.

Note: Taste before adding salt, as the olives and feta add quite a bit.

Onion and Pepper and Garlic

I often start dinner this way:

Saute onion and bell pepper in oil for 10 minutes on low heat, add fresh garlic, either crushed or minced, saute for a few more minutes.

From there, baby, you can go anyplace. I often go to a pasta place. In fact, you could boil some water, cook some pasta, add salt, pepper, and parmesan to taste, and have a simple meal in 15-20 minutes.

The secret to making a dish like this successful is having enough liquid. In this case, the liquid is oil, and you don't need a ton, but enough to coat the pasta and keep it from drying out. A way to cut back on the oil is to add a splash of white wine or lemon juice. You could also use chicken or veggie broth.

Make it more interesting: Add fresh spinach (frozen works, too) and/or diced tomatoes, to the peppers and onions, just before adding the garlic. If you have a lemon--and it's always a good idea to have a lemon--grate a little lemon zest into the sauce to brighten it up.

Basic Red Sauce

Here's a recipe for a basic red sauce, or marinara. I use canned tomatoes here, because good, fresh ones aren't always available.

2 cloves garlic, crushed or diced
1/2 yellow or white onion, diced
1/2 bell pepper, diced
1 carrot, diced
1/4 cup olive (or cooking) oil - It will still be really good, even if you don't have olive oil.
2 tsp dried basil
1+ Tbs oregano
black pepper to taste
1 14-15oz can diced tomatoes (plain)
1 14-15oz can tomato sauce (plain)

Make it:
Saute onion, bell pepper, carrot, in oil, low-medium heat, for 10 minutes.
Turn heat low and add crushed garlic. Saute for 3 minutes.
Add canned tomatoes, oregano, basil, black pepper.
Stir, cover and let simmer for at least a half hour. An hour or two is even better.

Extras
Things I add when I have them are: a splash of red wine, and a shake or two of crushed red pepper for a little extra heat.

You can easily sauce one pound of pasta with this. I toss the cooked pasta with some of the sauce, and then add extra on top to serve. Add a little parmesan, and it's a great bowl of pasta.

For a Meat Sauce
If you want a meat sauce, add ground beef to saute pan and brown before adding garlic. Ground pork, turkey, work fine, too. I stay away from soy-based meat substitutes for this, because the earthy soy flavor seems to step on everything. I generally reserve meat substitutes for burgers. If you want extra texture in your sauce without meat, I'd add olives, artichoke hearts, eggplant, or more bell pepper.