I am being a lot sensational. It is not really garbage, but a bunch of things left over in the refrigerator. A couple of weekends ago, we had a family reunion and I needed to make something to take. I didn’t want to invest much in cooking and I really didn’t want to go to the store to buy ingredients. I also wanted to make something that would use things wife wouldn’t eat. Finally, I wanted it to be vegetarian so that if we had leftovers, my son would eat it.

We wax and wane some on gluten. I don’t really believe that anyone should eat it in significant quantities due to the inflammation response that it causes. But, some people tolerate it better than others. And, my wife has recently declared that she was no longer eating gluten so I thought that I would make pasta salad.

Salads are a good vehicle to use up all of those tidbits of things. I am sure that your refrigerator is similar to mine where the one time you made the anti-pasta platter, you have one third jar of olives left over. Well, I have three different jars one third full. I had a small bit of onion, feta cheese, yellow pepper and some dried cherry tomatoes I made a couple of years back.

A bit on onion. I used yellow onion because that is what I had on hand. I think a red onion would have been better but don’t get too hung up on the ‘right’ onion. As long as it is not a featured part of the dish, it is going to be OK. In fact if you want, don’t even put it in the salad if you are that worried about it. If you think it is going to go well, then go for it.

Sometimes I use yellow onion in substitute for green onion and sometimes the other way around. White is distinct and works best in Mexican but I will use that in place of yellow onions. So, use what you have and do what you feel. Best is always best but that doesn’t mean it will be almost as good. I certainly didn’t think my yellow onion impacted the salad.

I mixed the pasta and the garnishes. Now, it was time to make the dressing. I wanted something Mediterranean so that is oil, vinegar and herbs. I also wanted to keep it on the surface of the pasta so I wanted to emulsify the oil and vinegar. I chose the remaining mayonnaise and added some leftover whole grain mustard.

I have a similar take on vinegar as onions. Red or white wine vinegar is best but I would have used cider vinegar or distilled as well. I probably wouldn’t use balsamic, but who knows, maybe that would work too. It would be an interesting experiment.

I used thyme, oregano and parley for herbs. I love oregano in a vinegrette. However, mine is really tough, so maybe I should have focused on mincing rather than a rough chop. I also would have added basil if I had it, The parsley was mostly for looks rather than taste as it gets washed out with the stronger herbs.

It certainly didn’t look or taste like garbage. I was really happy how it came out. I didn’t get the compliments that I did on the coleslaw last year but that is OK. My satisfaction is the most important.

End Your Programming Routine: At any given time, there is two to five different hot sauces in the fridge. All the jams, pickles, mustards drive me nuts. Any time I can repurpose all those things into a productive alternative, I am extremely satisfied. And that is what we have here. Truth be told, I would be just as happy if it tasted terrible, fortunately, that wasn’t the case.