What to eat in the heat part 2
Yesterday I wrote about no cook pasta sauces to serve over a plate of hot pasta. But pasta is great cold too. Cook it earlier in the day (undercook it just a little bit- pasta’s better when it’s al dente, especially when it’s cold), and you’ve got the key ingredient for a pasta salad later.
You can add veggies to the water while the pasta cooks, but many cold pasta salad additions require no cooking at all. A can of rinsed, drained beans, artichoke hearts, thawed frozen broccoli or peas, small chunks of avocado, halved cherry tomatoes, pine nuts, peanuts, sunflower seeds, and cubed, shredded or grated cheese are low effort pasta salad ingredients.
Skip the mayonnaise- a light dressing is all you need. While you cook the pasta, whisk a light vinegar or lemon juice with some olive oil, salt, pepper and the herbs of your choice to make a dressing, or use a prepared Italian salad dressing. You’ll need about a cup of the dressing of your choice for each pound of pasta.
Depending on your mood and what you have in the kitchen, you can make your pasta salad Italian, Greek, or Asian with a few key ingredients. Here’s an Asian style pasta salad.
Cold Sesame Noodles
1 pound spaghetti (I like whole wheat for this recipe, but use lo mein noodles if you have them)
½ cup creamy peanut butter
3 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons of rice vinegar or white wine vinegar
1 tablespoon sesame oil
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 teaspoon dried red pepper flakes
½ teaspoon minced fresh ginger
2 green onions, thinly sliced on the bias
1 red pepper, thinly sliced
1 shredded or julienned carrotBring the water to a boil and cut the vegetables. Cook the pasta according to the directions on the box using the shortest cooking time. While the pasta cooks, whisk together the liquid ingredients, peanut butter, ginger, sugar and red pepper, adding spoonfuls of hot water from the pasta if the peanut butter is too thick to mix well. Drain the cooked pasta and combine with vegetables and sauce. Serve cold or at room temperature.
pasta salad, hot weather cooking, cold sesame noodles, low prep meals
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