Dinner Tonight

Tonight I'm making a pasta salad and my mom's Garlic Chicken. Dessert is baby angel food cakes (which I didn't make) topped with strawberries in wine.

Pasta Salad

• 1/2 lb rotini (doesn't have to be colored), cooked to al dente, drained and rinsed under cold water
• 1 diced green pepper
• 1 sm. can of sliced olives, drained
• 1 pint halved cherry tomatoes
• 4 oz. cubed mozzarella
• 4 oz. cubed cheddar
• juice of 1 lemon
• 1/3 c. olive oil
• 2 tsp. garlic powder
• 1/2 tsp. crushed red pepper (yes, I went overboard tonight)
• 1 tsp. basil
• 1 tsp. oregano
• 1/2 tsp. freshly ground pepper
• 1 tsp. coarse salt

Make the dressing: whisk together the lemon juice, olive oil and the seasonings. Toss with the pasta, veggies and cheese. I would add diced procuitto or salami if this was going to be a main course. If you don't want to make the dressing I would substitute a 1/2 cup of italian dressing, but it's not going to be as sunny tasting.

Garlic Chicken

• chicken pieces (with the skin on)
• salt
• crushed garlic
• olive oil

Heat a skillet to medium low, and pour a Tb or so of olive oil into it. sprinkle the oil with salt and crushed garlic, and place the chicken pieces skin-side down. sprinkle the chicken with more salt and garlic. Let cook about 20 minutes, then turn and cook about 20 minutes more (depending on the size of the pieces). The key to this is the low heat and long cooking time.

Strawberries in Wine

• 1 pint of strawberries, hulled and halved
• 1/3 c. fruity wine (I used Ernest & Julio Gallo's Cafe Zinfindel)
  
• 1 Tb sugar

Toss the strawberries in the wine and sugar, and leave to sit in the fridge for no more than two hours. Serve over cake, ice cream, merengues, and whatever else you care to think of.