When It’s Too Hot to Cook

They call August the dog days of summer. The midday sun beats down, making long, lazy shadows that flood the ground. The heat of an August day edges off in the evening here in the Northwest, but if you’ve been traveling all day in an RV you might not feel like cooking dinner. Maybe the day has been too hot to cook, but come evening you’ll find it is never too hot to eat.

And that is when a hearty, healthy meat, poultry or fish salad is the perfect meal. It can be prepared in the morning before traveling, and can be served with nothing more than a hearty bread. In fact, meat salads benefit from advanced preparation since the flavors of the ingredients need time to meld and to permeate the meat.

Summer is salad season and there are all sorts of combinations for main course salads.

Mix drained canned white beans with cubes of left-over roast pork, chopped red bell pepper, minced garlic and a bit of sage, or moisten romaine lettuce with olive oil and red wine vinegar, then mix with chopped red onion, chunks of smoked ham, Granny Smith apples and cheddar cheese, and a poppy seed dressing. Arrange strips of boiled ham and Swiss cheese, a hard-cooked egg and tomato wedges on a bed of greens, and then drizzle with ranch dressing. Or cook cheese tortellini and toss with prepared pesto sauce, shredded cooked turkey breast and diced pimiento.

And there’s always the colorful pasta salad. We remember the bowls of macaroni salads with little green peas that always appeared on picnic tables of our youth. Pasta salads today have taken on a new dimension. They have style now, are lighter and more flavorful. There is usually a blending of herbs and crunchy veggies. Some have a simple vinaigrette dressing that can be made by combining 1 1/2 cups of olive oil, 1/3 cup of red wine vinegar and 1/4 cup of lemon juice with 1/4 cup of chopped fresh basil, 1 1/2 teaspoon of salt, and 1 teaspoon of pepper. Pour over 1 pound of cooked hot pasta and toss gently to coat; cool to room temperature, cover, and refrigerate overnight, stirring once.

Pasta salads do not need to take long to prepare and you may have most all the ingredients on the shelf already. Pasta is an excellent source of complex carbohydrates, helping the body maintain a high energy level and providing a feeling of fullness. It is low in calories and fat, and has some protein, B vitamins and iron.

Pasta comes in more than 600 shapes and sizes, in a variety of colors, and with catchy names—linguini, ziti, fettuccini, spaghettini, trombette, spirals, shells, bow ties, capellini, dluski, rigatoni, jiffies, twists, orzo, ratinis, farfalle, fusilli and penne.

It is important in cooking pasta that it not become too soft and gooey. Experts suggest that a gallon of water be used for 1 pound of pasta. Cook it in a very deep kettle so it has enough room to swim around without the pieces bumping into each other. Two tablespoons of salt should be added just after the water is fully boiling and just before the pasta is added. Push the pasta down with a wooden fork; once it boils again, lower the heat to medium. Always use a wooden fork; never use a spoon because it will bring the pasta together.

Always cook pasta uncovered while the water is boiling rapidly so it can circulate for uniform results. When cooked, pasta should be bitable, firm without being chewy—test it “to the tooth,” which is what al dente means. When the pasta is finished cooking, “fork” it from the pot to prevent stickiness. Drain but do not rinse. Instead, dump it onto a large-lipped cookie sheet to cool and dry. If it sticks together, the dressing will break it up.

PASTA AND PEPPER SALAD
8 ounces of small shell macaroni
1/2 cup of olive oil
1/2 cup of white wine vinegar
1 tablespoon of dry basil
1 clove of garlic, minced
1/3 cup of grated Parmesan cheese
Salt and pepper
2 tablespoons of chopped parsley
1 red or green bell pepper, diced

Cook macaroni; drain. In a salad bowl, stir together oil, vinegar, basil, garlic and Parmesan cheese. Mix in macaroni and season to taste with salt and pepper. Cover and refrigerate for at least 4 hours. Just before serving, stir in parsley and red pepper.

Makes 4-6 servings.

MACARONI SALAD
1 pound of macaroni
12 scallions, sliced
4 hard-cooked eggs, chopped
1 cup of thinly sliced celery
12 strips of bacon, crisply cooked, drained, and crumbled
1 4-oz. jar of sliced pimientos, drained
1 cup of chopped dill pickles
1 1/2 cups of mayonnaise
1 tablespoon of prepared horseradish
2 teaspoons of prepared mustard
Salt and pepper

Cook macaroni; drain. Turn into large bowl; add scallions, eggs, celery, bacon, pimientos and pickles. In a small bowl, stir together mayonnaise, horseradish and mustard. Stir into macaroni mixture. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Some nice additions, if desired are sliced pepperoni, pepperoncini, sliced white mushrooms, shredded provolone, roasted red peppers, chopped.

Makes 12-14 servings.

PICNIC PASTA SALAD
1 pkg. of tricolor spiral pasta
1 pkg. of refrigerated tricolor tortellini
1 jar of marinated artichoke hearts, undrained
1/2 pound of fresh broccoli florets
12 oz. of provolone cheese, cubed
12 oz. of hard salami, cubed
1 red bell pepper, chopped
1 green bell pepper, chopped
1 15-oz. can of garbanzo beans, rinsed and drained
2 small cans of sliced ripe olives, drained
1 red onion, chopped
4 garlic cloves, minced
2 envelopes of Italian salad dressing mix

Cook pasta and tortellini; drain. Place in large bowl; add artichokes, broccoli, provolone cheese, salami, peppers, beans, olives, onion and garlic.

Prepare salad dressing according to package directions; pour over salad and toss to coat. Serve immediately or refrigerate.

Makes 14-16 servings.

SPAGHETTI SALAD
1 pound of vermicelli, broken into small pieces
1 cup of green bell pepper
3 medium tomatoes
1 red onion
Seasoned salt and seasoned pepper
1 16-oz. bottle of Kraft Italian dressing

Cook and drain spaghetti. Chop and add green peppers, tomatoes and onion; add seasonings to taste. Toss with dressing and put in refrigerator for several hours. Top with Parmesan cheese.

Some nice additions, if desired are cubed mozzarella cheese, chopped celery, broccoli florets and chopped scallions.

People make pasta salads all the time—when’s the last time you went to a potluck that didn’t have a pasta salad? And how often were they dry, bland, oily, sharp or uninteresting? Be sure yours is a stunning, irresistible pasta salad—be creative with ingredients you like to eat, but use a little common sense.

HINT OF THE MONTH: A very cold salad will not release the same subtlety of flavor as one less chilled, so allow refrigerated salads to warm up before serving.

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Marian Platt's regional narrative cookbook of Washington’s Sequim Valley, From My Kitchen Window, can be ordered by sending cash, check or money order for $25 (includes tax and handling/mailing costs) to Marian Platt, 434 Chicken Coop Rd., Sequim, WA 98382. Phone (360) 683-4691