Summer Pasta Salad

Great for bringing to picnics or just for a light summer dinner, this pasta salad is a simple one-pot meal.

Mats:
1 lb shrimp - the smaller the better
4 carrots
4 stalks celery
3 tomatoes
2c leafy green. So far, I've used baby spinach, kale and bok choy. Mustard greens, swiss chard, or beet leaves would all be fine as well.
1 box elbow macaroni. Or something similarly-sized, like small shells or tiny penne or wheels.
1 bottle Ranch dressing.

Put a pot of water on to boil. When it reaches a full boil, dump in your pasta of choice and cook to 'al dente' (Italian for 'with tooth', you don't want to overcook the pasta at all or it won't hold up), usually about 10 minutes.
Drain your pasta and put it in a large bowl.
Fill the pot back up with about 3c of water and put it back on to boil.
Peel the carrots and cut into 1/4 in rounds. Add to the water (it's ok if the water hasn't fully come to a boil yet).
Cut the celery into 1/4 in slices, add to the water.
Peel and de-vein the shrimp (or just buy it pre-shelled) and add that to the pot of water too.
Cut your leafy green into bite sized pieces, about 1/2 inch, and add to the water.
Cover with a lid and steam for 5 minutes or so, just enough to cook the shrimp and leafy green.
Drain the veggie mixture.
Put the pasta and the veggie mixture into a large bowl. Add the entire bottle of ranch dressing, 1 tsp salt and pepper (to taste. I like to used a cracked black pepper as it gives it a nice texture).
Mix thoroughly and stick in the fridge to cool.

Sausage and Rigatoni

Mmmm, Italian Classic:

Mats:
6 links sweet Italian sausage
1 box Rigatoni pasta
1/4 c Lemon Juice
1/2 c Water
2 cloves garlic
1 can red kidney beans (or cannelloni beans)
1 c Kale
Parmesan cheese

Steps:
Put a pot of water on to boil, add 1/2 tsp salt and 1/2 tsp olive oil. When it boils, add rigatoni, cook for 14 minutes. Drain and set aside.
Meanwhile, in a medium skillet on med-high heat, cook the sausage links. They go in the pan 'dry' (don't add butter or oil). Cook for about 10-12 minutes, rolling them so they get nicely browned on all sides.
Pull out the sausages and set aside to cool.
Pour the lemon juice and water into the sausage pan, reducing the heat to med-low. We're looking for a very low simmer, just enough that you see tiny bubbles on the bottom of the pan. Stir the juice around to scrape up any sausagey bits that stuck to the bottom of the pan.
Chop the garlic very fine (use a garlic press if you have one) and add it to the pan.
When the sausage is cool enough that you don't scald your fingers, slice it into rounds about 1/2 inch thick. Throw the sausage back into the pan with the juices, and try to get as much of the juice off your cutting board and back into the pan.
Add the beans.
Chop the kale into 1/2 inch sized pieces (the stems on kale are notoriously tough, so you can throw them out if you like. If you don't like waste, just cook the dish for an extra 4 or 5 minutes) and add to the pan.
Cover and cook for 5 minutes.
Add 2 or 3 Tbsp of Parmesan cheese to the pan and stir so it gets dissolved in the juice. This will thicken the sauce a bit.

Dish out a bowl of rigatoni pasta, top with the sausage/greens and pour the sauce over! Top with extra cheese if you'd like.