June 26, 2008

Saving pasta salad, one step at a time

It is the height of cookout season. You're expected to bring a side dish.

At almost the last minute, in an effort to avoid another trip to the grocery store, you pull out the elbow macaroni and mayonnaise with plans to concoct one of summer's least inspiring dishes: macaroni salad.

Now, I'm sure there are folks out there who adore macaroni salad, and I'm not saying it can't be good if it's prepared well. Usually "well" involves fresh tomatoes and grated cheddar, in my opinion. But overall, I agree with Sara Dickerman, who wrote a recent article for Slate.com about pasta salad, when she says "Pasta salad is the wallflower of summer foods: It almost always makes it to the barbecue, but no one quite remembers who invited it."

The rest of her article is equally amusing and enlightening. Ultimately, she says the key to a good cold noodle dish is "attentive seasoning, both with salt and with more aromatic ingredients like fresh herbs and scallions."

I would urge you to read the entire article here. You'll surely enjoy it as much as I did. But in the interest of time, I will boil down her twelve tips here:

1. Start with dried noodles. Prepare al dente and cool quickly in cold water.

2. Use an oily base, not a vinegary one. Choose fragrant olive oil, ingredients like smoked salmon or tuna in oil, olives or pesto and, if you must offset that with something acidic, choose a little fresh lemon juice.

3. Avoid tortellini.

4. Avoid macaroni. Go with orzo, penne, orchiette, farfalle or fusilli instead.

5. Avoid mayonnaise. It hasn't enough character.

6. Avoid ranch dressing. Ditto on the character.

7. The only raw vegetables that work well in pasta salad are finely diced red onion, scallions and cherry tomatoes. Otherwise, roast or grill your veggies ahead of time. At least blanch the broccoli.

8. Choose tender, fresh herbs like chives, dill, mint, basil, cilantro and Italian parsley. Be careful with oregano and rosemary, which are very strong. Avoid dried herbs.

9. Light, tangy cheeses like feta, manouri, fresh chevre or ricotta salata are lovely in pasta salads.

10. Don't overwhelm your salad with too many ingredients. Dickerman suggests the following pairings: smoked salmon, red onion and chives; grilled broccoli raab, black olives and hard boiled egg; grilled mushrooms, ricotta salata and chopped parsley.

11. Letting pasta salad sit for 3 to 4 hours before serving allows flavors to meld, but it's not so long that the salad gets mushy.

12. Taste your salad one more time before serving. It may need a little more kosher salt or seasoning. Oh, and use a little more fresh herbs than you think you might need.

Source: www.slate.com

What do you think of Dickerman's tips? Do you have a particular recipe for pasta salad that always earns accolades at a cookout? Now's the time to share! It's almost July 4th weekend.

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