Anything goes pasta salad

Tomorrow my mom and I are leaving for New Mexico for a two week adventure! We are driving down and planning to camp along the way unless we hit any crazy cold patches in which case we will find a warm hotel room.  We're all about the road trip food.  We've got more beverages and (healthy) snacks than we could possibly eat and we've got the trusty Jetboil for making tea and hot cereal.  I was in charge of making pasta salad for tomorrow's dinner.  I had a few ideas for good flavor combinations, but as I started cooking I kind of just grabbed things at random trying to use up as many things as possible.

While the quinoa pasta was cooking, I sauteed onion and garlic with a little olive oil.  I tossed in some chopped carrots, celery, and broccoli. I let that steam for a few minutes while I drained the pasta.  I have not quite learned the difference between overdone and underdone when making gluten-free pasta, so I just hoped for the best!

After giving the pasta and veggies a few minutes to cool, I dumped them into a large mixing bowl and started adding things. Sheep's milk feta? Absolutely! Fresh lemon juice? Go for it! Chopped peperoncinis? Why not... I also added salt & pepper and Trader Joe's everyday seasoning.  The end result turned out surprisingly well.  I hoping this is one of those dishes that tastes even better the next day, or else we are going to end up with a bag of cold, soggy pasta salad...  Let's think postive! Road trips are all about adventure :)

It seems like a shame to go out of town when our yard is in its full spring glory, 

but New Mexico, here we come!