Now that the warm weather is upon us (or some of us, anyway) it's time to think of barbecuing and pasta salad. Depending on your weather, some people can barbecue all year round. Here in Ontario, this past winter that we never got allowed us more barbecuing time than some other winters.

My favourite is to bbq chicken breasts. Boneless and skinless, I marinate them in whatever I happen to have handy at the time. I know Gerry here at Gripe has an awesome marinade. I'll ask him to post it again. You can also use a "Diana" brand marinade. There are several to choose from. Sometimes I'll even use salad dressing that I have on hand.

Usually, I'll just pour the marinade into a bowl of some sort and place the chicken on top. Sort of swirl it around and make sure the chicken is well coated. Cover and put in the fridge. I find it's best if left overnight, but a few hours is fine, too. Then when you're ready, just throw it on the barbecue. Please don't reuse the marinade the chicken has been sitting in.

Always use fresh if you are basting while you are cooking.

I love to make pasta salads in the summer, too. Bow tie pasta looks nice in a pasta salad, but usually won't hold up to the mixing and stirring needed. I like to use penne pasta for my salads. I undercook it by about 3 minutes or so and let it soak up the salad dressing to finish it up. When making a cold pasta salad, I'll put lots of crisp vegetables in for texture. I'll use green and\or red peppers, cucumber, green onions, celery, carrots and broccoli.

Chop your veggies into smaller than bite size pieces. You can use just about any kind of oil and vinegar dressing you would enjoy on a green salad. My favourite is Kraft sundried tomato or roasted red pepper dressing. I have been known to drain and rinse a can of chick peas and toss them in there, too. For a greek pasta salad, just add some canned, whole black olives and crumble up some feta cheese. Then toss it all with a greek salad dressing.

If you are making this the day before, make sure to reserve some dressing. As the salad sits, the pasta will absorb the liquid in the dressing and tends to become dry. Just before serving, gently stir in some extra dressing until the salad has the moistness you like.