To me, summertime means sunshine, walks on the beach, long days, where the sun doesn’t set until after bedtime. It also means, lighter suppers, sitting at the picnic table with the family in the garden. And one of our summertime staples is pasta salads.
Pasta salad is a so versatile, it can be a side dish or a meal on its own. It is a great to take on picnics or potlucks and it is even better for a quick-lunch.
I’m branching out on my normal tips and thought I’d share on of my favorite cooking, time-saving tips.
When cooking pasta and the recipe calls to blanch or cook the veggies too – throw the veggies into with the pasta as it is cooking for the last couple minutes. I did this the other night while making a Chinese Chicken Pasta Salad. Here you can see I threw in the broccoli and snow peas in the pot in for a dip.
I figure, if it is going to be stirred all together eventually, why not share the already boiling water.
And with that, this turns into both a time-saving and “Green” water saving, tip.
What’s your favorite summertime time-saving tip?
Minute by minute 
July 19, 2011 at 4:37 am
I thought I’d share my recipe too – this is a tasty one.
Spicy Chinese Chicken Salad
1/2 cup rice vinegar
1/3 cup soy sauce
1/3 cup oil
1T sugar
2t fresh ground gingerroot
2T Asian-style chilii garlic sauce (I used two – maybe one next time)
3T sesame oil
12 oz vermicelli pasta, cooked and well drained (I used spaghetti)
1 cup thinly sliced green onions
2cups diced cooked chicken
1 cup snow peas, cookd and drained(opps – mine were raw)
1/2 cup chpped fresh cilnatro (I used Italian parsley – yuck – cilantro)
1/4 cup sesame seeds
In a large bowl, whisk together frist seven items. Add pasta, onions, chicken and peas,and stir to coat. Add cilantro and sesame seeds – toss to blend. Serve slightly warm or at room temp. I recommend letting it develop for a few hours before serving.
Enjoy!