Summer Salad

I made this pasta salad for a luncheon I recently attended. It was delicious, so I thought I'd share:

1/4 cup purple onion

1/2 cup Calamata olives

1/2 cup grape tomatoes

1/2 cup artichoke hearts (the canned kind)

1/2 cup green pepper

4 leaves of fresh basil, chopped

2 cloves of FRESH garlic, chopped

3/4 cup 3 cheese blend: Parmesan, Asiago, and Romano

1 Boar's Head salami roll, sliced into bite sized pieces (You can sub. mozz cheese and salami, if your local market doesn't carry this Boar's Head product.)

1 cup Italian Dressing, not Kraft, only Girard's

1 box of pasta. I only made 3/4th of the box. Make the entire box.

Prepare pasta according to package directions. Set aside to cool. Prepare all other ingredients and pour them over the cooked pasta. Add the Italian dressing, about 3/4th of the bottle. Mix. Add salt and pepper to taste. Add additional ingredients if the pasta salad tastes like garbage. We'll hope for the best. Chill for 45 min. before serving.