Caprese Pasta Salad

Make this salad the night before and bring to a potluck or BBQ the next day. I made this when we were grilling spicy Italian sausages.

Pasta:
1 package (1 lb) bow tie pasta
12 oz. fresh mozzarella pearls
¼ cup sun dried tomatoes, chopped
½ cup sliced Kalamata olives
4 oz pine nuts, toasted
1 cup fresh basil leaves, sliced
¼ cup fresh cilantro, minced
3-4 green onion sprigs, sliced

Dressing:
1 cup EVOO
½ cup balsamic vinegar
Juice of one fresh lemon
Freshly cracked sea salt
Freshly cracked black pepper

Boil pasta in salted water for about 7-9 minutes until tender. Drain, set aside and let cool.

In a small bowl, combine ingredients for dressing and whisk together.

In a large bowl, combine pasta with the rest of the ingredients for the pasta. Toss with dressing. Add additional EVOO, vinegar, salt and pepper to taste, if necessary. Garnish with fresh basil.

Fruit Trifle

A perfect dessert for a summer BBQ!

2 large bananas, sliced
1 package of strawberries, sliced
1 cup green grapes, sliced in half
Angel food cake, cut into cubes
8 oz. Cool Whip
1-20 oz. can crushed pineapple, undrained
1 tsp vanilla flavoring

In a small bowl, combine Cool Whip, pineapple and vanilla; set aside.

In trifle bowl, start with a layer of cake cubes, top with a layer of sliced bananas, layer of Cool Whip mixture, layer of strawberries, another layer of cake, layer of grapes, layer of Cool Whip mixture and top layer of strawberries.