Kitchen Sink Pasta

This dish is the epitome of my latest philosophy of cooking; take what you have on hand and make something really good to eat, which is only possible if you keep really good things around, like extra virgin olive oil, good cheeses, fresh herbs, and local vegetables.

First, I set a pot of water to boil for the Ziti, then I started a Vidalia onion and half a red bell pepper, sliced - not too thinly, in a pan with some EVOO over medium high heat

 I cut a small head of romaine into ribbons (this is a good use for lettuce that is starting to dry out a little - as some of the lettuce inevitably does when you get 3 heads a week in your CSA share for several weeks in a row), added that to the pan , and let it cook down. I also threw in one Tofurkey vegetarian Italian sausage sliced lengthwise and then into half moons (strictly optional - this dish would work just fine without it - but it gave a nice flavor).

 One more trip into the fridge yielded some Calamata olives and Feta cheese and I grabbed a can of navy beans from the pantry for some extra protein. I mexed those all in and heated everything through. Always save some cooking water when you drain the pasta - I added some here to moisten things up a little.

 Very tasty! I think it also would have worked well with goat cheese, if that had been in the fridge instead of Feta.  Seems like a lot of "stuff" in one dish, I know - but it all worked well together.