"pasta salad" news and stories

For those times that you need to feed twenty-five women, here's a recipe you could turn to. The card is faded and stained, and I can imagine some harried woman trying to pull this dish together, while the kitchen wall phone rang and the pasta pot boiled over on the stove, putting the flame out. It looks like a little bit of water from the tuna splashed onto the recipe card. There are a few notes in pencil on the back for substitutions and serving suggestions. It's a time machine, back to another age, when salmon only came out of a can and pimentos seemed exotic.

Remember when the news broke out that kimchee, the stinky, spicy, fermented cabbage from Korea, might aid in fighting the bird flu? I bet half the people who read the news went out and bought a giant jar of the stuff. But unless you're Korean and you eat kimchee with every meal (even breakfast!), you probably still have more than half of that jar left, slowly ripening away in the back of your fridge. Before long, it'll be kimchee wine, which sounds absolutely...gross.

Fret not, kimchee freaks. Rachael, of the food blog Fresh Approach Cooking, has taken kimchee and made it into a pasta salad! Normally, I bristle at "fusion," but I just can't help but love any idea that incorporates one of my all time favorite foods. Fabulous!

Pasta salads are not usually considered to be particularly elegant dishes, in large part because people think of them as bowls of mayonnaise that happen to have pasta mixed in. A pasta salad could really be any kind of cold or room temperature salad that has a dressing (as opposed to a sauce) and veggies in it. If you use a long, thin noodle, your pasta can quickly be transformed from a picnic side to an elegant main dish. Elise from Simply Recipes used this techinque with her inspired Sesame and Cilantro Vermicelli Salad. The asian-inspired pasta uses a honey and sesame soy dressing over a mix of thin noodles, cilantro, peanuts, green onions and red pepper, creating a perfectly satisfying summer pasta dish - no mayonnaise required.

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How many different kinds of pasta salad have you had? How many can you make? Pasta is a medium that lends itself to an almost infinite number of flavor variations, which is fortunate because it is well-liked and inexpensive, always on hand for a meal on short notice. Summer doesn't quite lend itself to the heavier, hotter pasta dishes that are so satisfying in winter, but it is the season when pasta salad really shines because there is such a variety of fresh, tasty ingredients to choose from. Pasta salads can almost always be served hot, at room temperature or chilled, so the timing can be as flexible as the ingredients. Pasta Salad: 50 Favorite Recipes serves up a wide variety of salad options, from simple and kid-friendly (Pepperoni Pasta Salad) to elegant (Autumn Shells Salad with Curried Apples, Pears and Walnuts) . The book starts by presenting the "basics,"  such as pointing out how to select the best pastas for salads, and offers five "master recipes" that can be used in any number of dishes. There are vegetarian, meat/poultry and seafood salads to choose from, so most eaters should be able to find something they'll like in here.

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The recipe I am about to share is one of my favorite "clean out the pantry" dishes. It's not so much a pasta salad as it is a pasta that is meant to be served at room temperature. This makes it perfect for casual buffet lunches or dinners, or for picnics and potlucks. It's good cold, better when it's at room temperature, but whatever you do, don't toss the ingredients while the pasta is hot. You'll have a gloppy, wilted pasta on your hands if you do.

Note: Use only imported oil-packed tuna and salted capers for this. Don't skimp on quality or you'll taste the difference.

Stefania Butler's Pasta with Tuna, Capers, and Lemon

Any short pasta (penne, rigatoni, gemelli, campanelle, farfalle, shells, etc.)
extra virgin olive oil
1 7 ounce jar oil-packed tuna (Callipo or Flott)
1 tablespoon salt-packed capers, rinsed thoroughly and patted dry between two paper towels
2 tablespoons finely chopped red onion
1 generous handful finely chopped, flat leaf parsley, leaves only
1 Meyer (preferred) lemon, juiced
1 Meyer (preferred) lemon cut into very thin (almost transparent) slices
salt and pepper to taste

Cook pasta for 2 minutes less than what package indicates. Drain. Toss with a little extra virgin olive oil, then spread onto a couple of large jelly roll pans to cool. DO NOT RINSE THE PASTA TO COOL IT.

Meanwhile, dump the tuna (and the oil it was packed in) into a large bowl and flake it into large chunks. Then add capers, onion, parsley, and lemon juice, along with 3-4 good "glugs" of extra virgin olive oil. Mix gently. Set aside.

When pasta is cooled, add to tuna mixture. Toss gently. Taste and adjust seasonings, add in lemon slices and toss again. Serve at once (preferred) or refrigerate then bring to room temperature and toss before serving.

[photo: Stefania Pomponi Butler]