Kris wrote:

> I have to bring a pasta salad to a group picnic, and am feeling a bit
> tired of my standby, pesto tortellini salad with chicken and grape
> tomatoes. (Hopefully this feeling will pass, as I love this salad).
> It made me wonder what other cooks make regularly...
>
> I'm a viniagrette dressing person, as opposed to mayo-based. I may
> make a lemon orzo salad, come to think of it. Or a peasant-style Greek
> salad with cucumber, tomato and red onion with feta.
>
> What do you guys like?

The excellent book _CookSmart_ has an entire chapter devoted to pasta
salads. This time of year I'd go for the "Pasta Salad with Asparagus,
Mushrooms, Artichoke Hearts, and Parmesan." You can view the recipe at
amazon.com by clicking "look inside" on the Amazon page for that book; the
recipe is on page 201 of the book. The recipe calls for a creamy vinaigrette
which *cannot* be viewed; that recipe would be:

1/4 cup lemon juice
2 tablespoons mayonnaise
1 large garlic clove, minced
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
2/3 cup olive oil

If you have an immersion blender, just put all the ingredients into a tall
narrow container and blend. If you have a mini-chopper, you can blend
everything together with that instead. If you're working by hand, whisk the
lemon juice and mayo together, add the garlic (which should be minced
*extremely* fine), salt, and pepper; whisk to combine, then whisk
continuously while adding the olive oil: Add just a few drops of olive oil
at a time to start, then add oil in a slow steady drizzle while whisking
furiously to keep it all emulsified.

Vinaigrette will be best if used within one day.


Bob