Mary Fox, owner, A Cook’s Table
Pasta salad started out as a side dish in our family, but that changed when our vegetarian daughter, who is also a fine cook, complained about the wimpy salads and meager choices at family occasions. So we pumped up the family recipe and here’s the way it turned out.
Salad
1 box penne or fusilli pasta, cooked al dente
1 cup cooked white beans or black beans (canned is fine)
1 cup finely chopped red onion
1 cup each red and yellow cherry tomatoes; halved
1 cup blanched asparagus, roughly chopped
1 cup grated carrot
1 cup each diced yellow and red pepper
1 cup finely diced celery
1 cup each chopped flat leaf (Italian) parsley and fresh basil
1 cup walnut halves or toasted pine nuts
Optional: Anything else. We like: 1 cup chopped black olives. The trick is to put in as many colors as you can, and a lot of crunch to complement the soft pasta.
Vinaigrette
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
3 to 4 tablespoons red or white wine vinegar
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1 large garlic clove, peeled
To make the vinaigrette: In the bottom of a mixing bowl combine the oils, vinegar and Dijon mustard. Squeeze the garlic through a press into the dressing and season it well with salt and pepper; whisk together.
To make salad: Add all the salad ingredients and toss to blend. Refrigerate 1 hour and serve.
