For His Master's Veneration: Breaking Out Pasta Salad

Summer is coming, restrictions are being lifted, let's get ready! A summer picnic, potluck, or barbecue, can hinge on a great pasta salad. So let's create a new one. We'll go over basics then let imaginations go play. This one is packed with a colorful mix of veggies, meat, homemade dressing, and cold pastas.

We start with an interesting pasta that will hold the dressing. Chop up some cheese sausages, red onion,tomatoes, cucumbers, and some cubed cheddar. A different take on the classic dressing to give it life and there is you own fabulous salad.

For the Salad

8 ounces whole wheat rotini

¼ medium red onion, finely chopped (about ¼ cup)

4 cucumbers peeled and chopped

4 roma tomatoes chopped

“Beddar Cheddar” sausages cut into ½ inch cubes

½ cup cubed cheese

¼ cup bread & butter pickles chopped, optional

Dressing:

½ cup mayonnaise

2 TBS hoisin sauce

1 tsp yellow mustard, substitute Dijon or whole grain mustard

½ tsp lemon juice

½ tsp salt, plus more to taste

¼ tsp black pepper, plus more to taste

1 to 2 TBS honey, optional for sweet version

Directions

Cook pasta according to the package directions. Don’t overcook the pasta. Use the directions as a guide, but a minute or two before it should be done, test it. If done, drain the pasta and move on.

Rinse the cooked pasta under cold water. By removing the starches, the salad won’t turn sticky or clump as much. NOTE this is different than if you were cooking a typical pasta dish. There, you want those starches to thicken the sauce and to suck it into the pasta.

While this cooks, do your cutting. Chop the tomatoes, peel and chop the cucumbers. Chop the red onion and place in a small bowl, cover with cold water. Set aside for 5 minutes and then drain. This “de-flames” the onion ensuring that it won’t taste too strong in the salad.

Cut up the sausages and the cheese cubes.

In a small bowl mix the mayonnaise, Hoisin sauce, mustard, and lemon juice. Season with salt & pepper to taste.

In a large bowl, add the rinsed, cool, macaroni, drained onions, cubed cheese, cucumbers, tomatoes. Mix well. Stir in the chopped sausages.

If this is for a picnic or to serve hours latter, do not mix in the dressing until ready to serve. Cover the pasta, meat, and vegetables with plastic wrap and refrigerate. Do the same with the dressing.

Add honey if you want a sweeter salad.

For more of a vegetable-packed salad, consider stirring in peas, corn, cauliflower or broccoli.

Keep the pasta salad, tightly covered, in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.