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PASTA SALAD REVIVAL June and July are full of celebrations around my house, as I think is true for many of you, too. There are events almost every weekend - we have the music festival, which is like Christmas without the gift shopping, then graduations, a recital, the odd birthday or two, and probably a party to see someone off on a big trip. And let's not forget the Fourth of July, and Bastille Day. The entertaining at this time of year is a more casual sort, though - food that goes with a loose linen shirt and a very cold rosé from Tavel. At summer buffet parties, you want food that can stay on the table for a while at room temperature, or food that is good cold. Robust flavors, but not too heavy - roasted eggplant salads, grilled peppers, olives, cool piles of lightly marinated green beans or zucchini, anything with pesto or tapenade - and that old favorite, pasta salad. I've been dishing up all of these over the last few weeks at parties, but I have another compelling reason for keeping up my repertoire of tasty cold food - teenagers. My teenage sons open the refrigerator and eat. They don't always stop at the stove in between. So I set about devising some summer pasta dishes that would be delicious served hot, and just as good the next day eaten cold from the fridge. The cook once, eat twice plan worked brilliantly, and has brought about a revival of the pasta salad in my house. Sadly, the reputation of cold pasta has been ruined by the kind of thing sold in many deli cases, but when you make your own, using the great fresh bounty of summer produce and an excellent quality pasta, you'll have a great dish. For the first pasta in my two-for-one program I made a rough sort of pesto, using great big handfuls of fresh basil and parsley, some chopped up Kalamata olives and walnuts, olive oil, and a touch of Parmesan. This pungent and rich-tasting mixture was tossed with a pasta in a shape I love and rarely see - tacconi, which are fairly large squares with curly edges - but any sturdy pasta with enough texture to grab the sauce will do. To add a light and juicy note, I threw in lots of halved cherry tomatoes. These are the best tomatoes in the market right now, full of concentrated, sweet tomato flavor, well ahead of the bigger ones that will be great in late July and August. I used red and yellow varieties together, and they made the dish beautiful as well as delicious. My pasta with walnut pesto met the criteria: good hot the first night, reincarnated as an excellent pasta salad the next day, a hit with the teenagers, and perfect for a relaxed summer party. Next I took a swing through the Asian section of my cupboard and made a ginger and sesame sauce that I poured over steamed vegetables and thin linguine. I used slender asparagus spears, yellow zucchini, and young carrots, cut into matchsticks. Of course the vegetables could be varied with tender string beans, snow peas, sweet red peppers, shiitake mushrooms... whatever you like. I steamed the vegetables for just a few minutes, keeping them on the crisp side, and tossed them with the ginger marinade, then added the hot, thin noodles. At the end I tossed in chopped cilantro, toasted sesame seeds, and chopped almonds. I had considered stir-frying the vegetables for this dish, but decided I'd rather not heat the oil that much. For these hot-cold dishes, one of the secrets is not to make them too heavy. I use a moderate amount of oil, and I like the fresh and lively flavor it has uncooked. Pastas are not the only foods that work this way. I made a simple zucchini and corn sauté with a touch of onion, some cilantro and - again - those spectacular cherry tomatoes, added raw at the end. All these things are at their peak in the farmers' market now, and this would make a great picnic salad. That's another bonus with this flexible kind of food - it's all ideal for picnics as well as parties. All three of these adaptable dishes can be found in "New Recipes" this month. I hope you're all having a delicious summer, and the living is easy. Remember - summer cooking is a seasonal pleasure, don't miss it. A CALENDAR NOTE: I've often been asked if I ever teach cooking classes. Normally I don't, though I've done a few demonstrations at events, but this summer from the 22nd to the 26th of July I'll be teaching a workshop on vegetarian cooking at the Omego Institute in upstate New York - a town called Rhinebeck, near Woodstock. If you think that sounds like something you'd enjoy, you can find out more by going to www.eomega.org. Perhaps I'll meet some of you there!
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