Pasta Salad

For a richer dressing, add half a cup of coconut milk and a couple of tablespoons of peanut butter to the dressing.

Fregola is a toasted semolina pasta that is very popular in Sardinia. You can substitute any small shape pasta, such as orzo, which it resembles, but do make the effort to seek it out at a specialty food shop; its nutty flavor makes this pasta salad really unusual and delicious.

This pleasant pasta salad is even tastier the second day. Enjoy it as an entrée for six or a side dish for twelve.

The lemon and dill vinaigrette is a wonderful complement to the flavors of this salad.

I recently ate at a wonderful little bistro in Montreal called Chez L’Epicier, or “house of the grocer.” The menus are written on what look like grocery sacks. Well, supper here was so good, I went out and got a sack of my own groceries to make a 30-Minute Meal knock-off of their gourmet lamb shank served with “raw spaghetti,” which turned out to be pasta with raw sauce. Hey, Montreal is a favorite getaway of mine, but I can make this meal any night I like and my market’s a lot closer!

Talk about flexible, this chicken is a cheerleader. Yes, it’s equally good steaming hot or icebox cold. Eat this dish four seasons of the year, hot or not, indoors or out. It’s G-R-E-A-T . . . great!

This can be eaten hot or at room temperature, like a pasta salad. The tagliatelle is usually cooked in the same water as the lentils, which gives the pasta a pleasant earthy color and flavor, but you can also boil them separately.

For more information on baked tofu, see page 136. I’d like to see this superb product go mainstream! See the menu with Cold Fresh Tomato Soup (page 17). This would also be just as good served with Fresh Tomato and Corn Soup (page 18).

Broccoli is one of the most harmonious additions to pasta salad. Try this in the menu with Pizza Margherita (page 154).

This salad is wonderful served warm or at room temperature with French bread and a green salad.

Olivada, an Italian olive spread, adds flavor and color to this side dish.

Grated lemon peel brightens up this light and satisfying pasta, which makes delicious use of root vegetables.

Spontaneity is the key to this pasta salad; it's not something you can make ahead and chill. The main ingredients can be harvested from a backyard plot or balcony pot, or simply be a reward for your produce-shopping prowess at the farmers market.

When adding the pesto and hot water to the pasta, taste to get a good balance of flavor and texture.

Attention, dill: Please step away from the salmon. Here, the herb gets to show its versatility—and its Greek side.