Tri-Color Pasta Salad

My resolve this week (and, hopefully, beyond) is to use at least one item out of my freezer or pantry (I'm trying to thin it out a bit). So, going back to Superbowl Sunday, I still had a bunch of those wonderful mini Italian egg rolls I wanted to experiment with. Now when I made them (the batch I made made 60 egg rolls) they were just a tiny bit labor-intensive. Or maybe I just felt that way because I was preparing 5 or 6 different appetizers and the clock was ticking. My original recipe said they could be cooked, frozen, and reheated. I did freeze the uneaten egg rolls, but I also froze some of the uncooked egg rolls. So this morning, I took the uncooked ones out of the freezer to thaw in the frig. These take less than 5 minutes to cook in a Fry Daddy. For the frozen, cooked egg rolls, I heated the oven to 375 (maybe 350 next time) and cooked for about 12 minutes. They got a bit dark, so I'll turn down the heat and check them at ten minutes.

Point being......both experiments came out great! So anytime you're in the most for these fantastic appetizers, know that you can prepare the entire batch, cook some or all, and freeze whatever you have leftover, cooked or not. I mean, how much more perfect can an appetizer get??!!!

OK, so back to tonight's recipe. I needed something to go with the egg rolls. I was just going to do some pasta with marinara, but had been holding onto this creamy pasta salad recipe for a while and decided to try it. I just happened to have everything on hand (some more clearing out of frig!) so I went with this. It all went together very nicely.

TRI-COLOR PASTA SALAD (Serves 2)

6 oz tri-colored rotini, cooked and drained
10 grape tomatoes, quartered, or 1 large or 2 small Romas, diced
1/2 small can sliced olives, drained
2 Tbsp red onion, finely diced
heaping 1/4 cup shaved Parmesan cheese
3 large basil leaves, julienned
2 Tbsp basil pesto
1/3 cup creamy Caesar dressing
S&P to taste
garlic powder to taste
1/4-1/2 cup toasted pine nuts

Combine Caesar dressing and pesto, whisk together. Cook pasta and coat with dressing mixture while pasta is still warm (I didn't use all of the dressing.....add a bit at a time until it is the consistency you like). Add the rest of the ingredients except pine nuts. Top with toasted pine nuts.

CREAMY CAESAR DRESSING

1 1/2 cups mayo (I used 1/2 regular, 1/2 low-fat)
2 garlic cloves, minced (I use large cloves because I want to taste it!)
coarsely ground black pepper (I just sprinkled it until it looked right)
1 Tbsp anchovy paste
1 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1/4 cup water
1 Tbsp dijon mustard

Whisk together well, then keep refrigerated.