I'm so swamped with packing and making all the other moving changes, I've no time to cook dinner for myself lately. So I've taken to traveling around with olive oil, salt, and pepper in my car. (Probably isn't a good idea to leave the olive oil in my car during the summer in the south. Better stash it in my desk.)
Anyway, here's what I do with them: For my dinner break I stop by the nearby Whole Foods store, go to the salad bar and get some pasta. Plain. (Hang with me, okay?) Leave some room in the container, you'll need it. Then, run by the cheese counter and get some fresh mozzerella. Then go by produce and pick up some tomatoes (hopefully the ones with the 'locally grown' sign above them) and fresh basil. Check out, go back to work, and head for the break room in your friendly place of employment.
Now you have the makings for a nice salad:
* Cut the tomatoes in large dice and let them fall over the pasta.
* Tear the mozzerella into small pieces and drop them in with the pasta and tomatoes.
* Tear several leaves of basil into bits and put them in with the salad.
* Add salt, pepper, and generous glugs of olive oil (a good idea not to leave it in your car, a fruity olive oil is nice here and a hot car will ruin it.)
So eat! And enjoy! And smirk when the guy in the cubbyhole next to you strolls in with his fourth happy meal of the week! (Maybe you can throw in, "oh, I just love fresh tomatoes, don't you?")
If you're dining in your home and not your cubbyhole, then some minced garlic would be nice to add to this. But take my word for it, garlic is damned frustrating to mince with a plastic knife.
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