This cool, summer salad is a staple at our table, especially during this season when cherry tomatoes are plentiful. It's delicious and has the added bonus of being one of the only dinner salads that our kids will eat (I think it's the salami that makes it so appealing; Girl 1 would be a vegetarian but for her love of all things pork!)

To make this salad, mix up the dressing in the bottom of your large serving bowl:

3 Tbs. olive oil

1 Tbs. white whine vinegar

1/2 tsp. kosher salt

1/4 tsp. black pepper

Then add the rest of your ingredients, toss, and serve!

8 oz. cooked pasta of your choice (we used penne this time, but we've also used gemelli and rotini in the past)

4 c. or so chopped spinach

1-1.5 c. halved cherry tomatoes

4-8 oz. cubed mozzarella (depending on how much cheese you like. I was actually low on mozzarella, so we cut up string cheese :)

a few slices of sandwich-cut salami, cut into little triangles like pizza slices

Yummmm!

Because of the spinach, the salad doesn't keep for long as left-overs once it's been mixed up. If you think you may not eat it all at dinner, consider mixing it all up without the spinach, putting spinach in the bottom of each serving bowl and topping with the rest of the ingredients. Keeping the spinach out of the mix ensures that your salad will still taste great at lunch tomorrow. :)