 |
|
|
There are a lot of "Pad Thai inspired noodle salad"s on the Internet, but as far as I can see they are pretty much just cold pad thai. For my take on the marriage of these two classics, I really tried to meld pad thai flavors into an american style pasta salad. At the center of the dish was Mara's Pasta, a tasty whole wheat penne that complemented the sweet/sour flavors nicely.
I tried to make Vietnamese Bun once before, but what I made wasn't really bun, because I had never eaten bun and I was going off a vague description. Now that I have actually eaten it at a few places, I understand the dish better, and I love it! Where I messed up last time was that we thought it was fried but when I have had it out, the ingredients are usually raw (except the noodles and meats). The more I eat it, the more I realize that it is just a variation on pasta salad! This is a super simple way you can bring some of the flavors of Vietnamese bun to your next BBQ.
I love pasta salad!!! Bring a pasta salad anywhere and you will be loved. Serious. This pasta salad uses avocado in the dressing. It was kinda weird, but came out great. Actually, I once said that avocado is a terrible combo with pasta. I mentioned that last year when I did a whole week dedicated to pasta salad! Check it out for this holiday weekend, there is 10 plus pasta salad recipes over there!
Flashback to pasta salad week? This was one I actually wanted to include that week but never got around to making it. We made it this past weekend for a boating excursion and everyone seemed to love it! Yes I understand that antipasti is NOT pasta, but the idea here is to mix in with the pasta a bunch of stuff that you would normally see on an antipasto platter.
Now that we have gone over many pasta salad basics, I have a few awesome ones to show you that I made to bring to that beach party from last week. Yesterday I hinted a little about making sure to have at least 3 different colors besides the pasta. I feel that this is really important because it causes people to salivate for your pasta when they first see it. Bring either of these to your 4th of July party, and they will be a huge hit! I came up with both of these ideas focused more on the shapes rather than the colors. I thought of the pasta shapes and tried to emulate them with the other ingredients. Here we have noodle salad, and ball salad.
Today's post isn't necessarily about the specific recipes listed; it is more about giving you the idea that anything can be a pasta salad. With the new theme on the website of frugally using up your leftovers, today I am presenting you with two different pasta salads made with only what was lying around in the fridge. Use these as inspiration for something to do with your leftovers! When making a pasta salad with leftovers, as a guide I try and check for 4 things; at least 3 colors besides the pasta, crunch, juiciness, and acidic bite. If you have all these things, your pasta salad is ready for the big time!
I decided to swap around some days in pasta salad week and show the healthier option today. As I said in the intro on Monday, the title "pasta salad" is a bit misleading because most of these are far from salads or healthy in any way. I wanted to have at least one healthy one up for you guys. I decided to make Tabouli (or Tabbouleh) because bulgur is much healthier than normal pasta. Cracked wheat you say? I say it is pretty much whole grain pasta. Don't believe me? Check out this chart I made to prove it.
Yesterday, in my introduction to pasta salad week, I mentioned how we all probably have the "old standby" salad which we bring with us to picnics and BBQs every year. In college my standby pasta salad was nothing more than bowties or fusilli mixed with a bottle of Italian dressing, pepperoni, peppers, onions, and feta. Simple and tasty. But growing up my mom always made one that was pretty unusual. She would pack it up for me to take all sorts of places, from swim meets to school lunches. We've re-created her pasta salad a few times since then just tooling it out and guessing; but last week I called my mom in order to get the exact recipe to share with you. One bite brought me back all sorts of memories!
Welcome to pasta salad week! A whole week you say? On just pasta salads? YES! I love pasta salad and I think it deserves it's own week. Let me tell you why.
WHY:
Pasta salad is the best thing to bring to a BBQ. It is a fact that almost every person who reads this blog will be going to a BBQ in the next two and a half months. (Except poor Marina in the southern hemisphere.) More than that, most of you will be going to a BBQ in the next two and a half WEEKS. Fact number 2, you will be asked to bring something, or because you read this blog and are a food lover, you will offer to bring something. Fact 3, you will make that stale old pasta salad you have been bringing to BBQ's for years. Everyone will say how tasty it is even after all these years, you will forget your dish at your friends house and never see it again, and all will be right in the universe. Well I wanted to put pasta salad week out here to give you guys some options and help you try something new. Something that will really knock the socks off Aunt Susie at your fourth of July party. Everyone will love you and ask for the recipe. You will say it just came to you in a dream. That can be our little secret.
Lets talk a bit about pasta salad.
What is pasta salad? What is pasta salad NOT? Pasta salad is not a salad really, nor is it anywhere close to healthy (most of the time.) My pasta salads are generally a bit better for you than the average mayo soaked version, but not all of them, and not by much. I suppose pasta salad needs pasta in it. I sometimes use bulgur, quinoa, or other grains, but still call it a pasta salad. I don't think I have ever made a rice salad in my life. Below is the pasta salad week menu that will be populated with links as the days go by. To get us started, I have some older pasta salads I have made. Two of these posts were linked in my summer grilling recipe round up from a few weeks back, but I wanted them on here too to make pasta salad week complete.
Today: Intro and old pasta salad posts
Tuesday: Old Standbys
Wednesday: Leftover pasta salad
Thursday: A healthier version
Friday: Playing with colors and shapes
Steak, Arugula and Roasted Red Peppers with Penne
Black Bean, Avocado and Corn with Quinoa
Cous Cous with spinach tomatoes and feta
Come back tommorow for more of exciting pasta salad week!
© 2009 The Food In My Beard
