Favorite pasta salad

Monday through Thursday I make lunches for the Other Adult to take to work. Not sure how I got into this routine, I just did. I guess I do it cause I kind of own the kitchen and it's more difficult for her to get into the kitchen and do things in there when I'm doing my own thing in there all night long. Once a week or once every two weeks I'll send a pasta salad of some kind. I try to shake it up and keep the recipes interesting, but the unfortunate truth about pasta salad is this: there's really only one recipe out there, and every pasta salad is a variation of that one recipe.

Every pasta salad recipe that I have come across has the following things:

1) pasta

2) wetting agent (usually like an oily dressing but could be mayonnaise based or pesto or something else)

3) spice/flavor

4) vegetables

5) meat or meat substitute

6) cheese

Of all the pasta salads I've ever made, our favorite is this variation, which I just think of as Favorite Pasta Salad.

Favorite Pasta Salad prep time: 15ish minutes

Ingredients

• pasta
• olive oil
• salt and pepper
• diced onion, bell peppers and tomato
• sliced sausage (I use Tofurkey Beer Brats)
• cubed fresh mozzarella

Instructions:

Cook pasta. Bake sausage slices for about 5-10 minutes on 375. Combine ingredients in a bowl. I'm not giving quantities for the ingredients because I never measure, and I think it's all a matter of your own preference anyway. The Other Adult prefers it heavy on the sausage and light on the tomato and onion. Plus she likes the tomato and onion in really, really small pieces. I add olive oil, salt and pepper to taste.