Cate wrote:
>
> Husband's office staff (half of whom are college or grad students) is coming
> for a Christmas party at our house this Sunday afternoon. Tiny house, staff
> of 15, nowhere for them all to sit, so all the food must be finger food or
> easily eaten with a fork while standing.
>
> There's one known vegetarian in the bunch (possibly more we don't know
> about), and I'm trying to balance meaty and meatless dishes. I have limited
> time this weekend to cook, so I'm hoping to make some things of time and
> freeze it. The final menu isn't yet set, so I'm open to suggestions.
>
> But my main request is that I'm looking for a meatless pasta or rice salad
> (ie., cold) recipe that's not the standard macaroni primavera and mayo-based
> dressing. Something that can hold up unrefrigerated for three hours is
> required. Any combo of chewy, crunchy, tangy, sweet, spicy is even better.
> And anything that cuts down my cooking time would be great too.
>
> Any ideas?
>
> Thanks,
> Cate

For a do like that, I dress the pasta or rice salad with oil and vinegar
anyway, which keeps better.
Not certain what 'macaroni primavera' is, but we always put an
assortment of vegetables (often roasted) into such salads.

Curried mushrooms hold up well on a cold buffet.