On-Vacation Pasta Salad

“No man needs a vacation so much as the man who has just had one.” Elbert Hubbard, American writer/publisher

I’ve tried some fancy things in the kitchen — not always with success, but I’ve tried. That said, I’ve cooked some of our favorite family meals in vacation cabins. You know, the kind of kitchens where you’re searching every drawer in vain for a paring knife and you cook and bake things in odd pots because you can’t find anything else.

It must be the challenge of cabin cooking that appeals to me. Not only is the equipment minimal, there’s never all that much food to work with, nor is there much time. Who wants to spend their vacation cooking after all?

Here is a simple-but-delicious pasta salad we came up with on our recent trip to the mountains. It’s great for far-flung locations, but we liked it so much I’m going to work it into our home-meal rotation. There are plenty of nights when a 15-minute dinner feels just right. 🙂

On-Vacation Pasta Salad

Cook one 12-ounce box of pasta in generously salted water according to directions. Drain and set aside.

Halve one pint of grape tomatoes. Place in skillet with small amount of water or olive oil and cook until tomatoes are soft and a thick juice has developed. (Add more fluids during the cooking process if you are losing your sauce.) Season with salt and pepper.

Combine the pasta, the tomatoes and a tub of prepared hummus. Serve immediately with a simple salad. Done!

P.S. My new beach read, “Dune Girl,” is another way to celebrate the joys of vacation season. It’s available through Amazon as an e-book — downloadable to Kindle, smart phones and tablets — at http://www.amazon.com/dp/B07DLC6K43.