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make twice as much tuna or chicken and pasta casserole for supper as you need. Try not to eat all of it. Store extra in a clean covered dish, not the dish you baked it in.
When you're ready to make pasta salad, toss the leftovers in a big bowl with whatever vegetables you have.... broccolli, pimentos or roasted peppers, celery, onions, scallions, cherry tomatoes, etc., and a big dollop of mayo.
taste. adjust seasonings.
Don't try this with something you find in the back of the fridge. That's what gives second day dishes a bad name.
interesting read. but I have some questions. it says 1/4 cup of salt for each lb of pasta!!! Good lord that is way too much salt. I might add 1 Tablespoon if that much.
Also I always run cold water over pasta for pasta salad but I thought I was simply stopping the cooking...not trying to get starch off. Guess it does both.
OMGosh someone who knows what I am talking about, I thought I was just being crazier than normal.
and yes that crackly sound but not dry creaky crackly, smushy, squishy crackly.
Okay, I've been trying to follow this thread but after this post .... are ya'll talking in code? To keep the solution from the rest of us who aren't so enlightened in the "Sounds of the Salad"?
My recipe is an "old school" macaroni salad, from before "pasta salad" became the buzz word. It was my mom's recipe. I also make "pasta" salads with vinegarette dressings.
Lets start with the old school macaroni salad. I use elbow noodles and cook them until tender. Not al dente. Drain well and rinse.
Add mayo mixture, which is for one box of macaroni, 3/4 cup of mayo, whisked with 4 T apple cider vinegar, and 2 T sugar. I heat the vinegar in the microwave so that the sugar dissolves.
When I fold the mayo mixture into the mac, they are both warm. Then I chill them.
In my basic mac salad, I add minced celery, carrots, red and green bell peppers and carrots. My family likes sliced black olives. Salt and pepper, parsley, (fresh is best) and garlic powder.
When all ingredients are mixed, I chill them.
As a cook, I'm not afraid to taste. Although I've made this for at least 20 years, I still taste and make adjustments as needed.
I don't think bow ties are the best pasta for a salad. When you mix them, they can break easily and become mushy.
Besides old fashioned elbows, I find that rotini works well.
A really fool proof pasta salad involving rotini involves frozen broccoli florets, frozen baby peas, and a diced tomato. Add a prepared balsamic vinegarette dressing. Sesame Ginger turns it Asian. I also add water chestnuts and bamboo shoots. I skip the tomato and add a minced red pepper.
For a creamy salad add 1/4 cup of mayo. Mix the salad dressing and mayo. Heat in microwave for one minute.
I love bow ties. But they don't hold up in pasta salad.
I thought of something else - use a good quality of pasta. Creamette. Mullers, Ronzoni, or Barilla.
really Sheena? I tend to think of pasta is pasta...I usually buy store brand. We all know many factories package store brand and name brand side by side with same product.
Tri colored Wacki Mac rotini pasta
Broccoli florettes cut really small teaspoon size-I dont cook them when I make it but the wife likes to par boil them when she does
cubed roasted red peppers in the jar not pickeled just in water
green olives halved
black olives halved
grape tomatos halved or the small cherry tomatos whole
marinated articoke hearts halved-Costco Kirkland brand
Canned low salt kidney beans rinsed
quartered Mazzetta peperoncinis
cubed bitesize low fat mozzarella
grated romano cheese-has more kick than parmesan
peppered salami slices strip cut
diced purple onion
Red pepper flakes-we save the little packets from pizza night for just this occasion.
Make your own italian/balsamic vinegrette or use a good cheap dressing like Wish Bone Italian. I make a killer vinegrette but for some reason the Wish Bone Italian really gives it a Commercial Deli salad taste so we use that for just this salad.
I didnt specify quantities as you can work that out your self. I try to get an even amount of all the items so each serving has a little of everything.
I cook the pasta then let cool to room temp or toss into fridge for an hour. The pasta will firm up and not fall apart when mixing. After mixing in all the stuff toss in fridge over night.
Hint keep extra dressing on hand to pour over after serving if people want extra.
Try making it with just one lbs of pasta before going big, you can adjust how much and what you want to put in. I can whip up a batch of 5-10 lbs no problem now when I'm cooking for large amounts of people.
This salad and a side BBQ Santa Maria style tri-tip is just about the best summer meal I can imagine. Add what ever drinking and dessert you want and BAM you got Memorial Day, 4th of July and Labor Day all covered. Not to mention pool, beach, picnics and camping for the entire season.
Last edited by Bulldogdad; 05-17-2014 at 03:18 PM..
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