Well, I tried searching for the blog I started, only to find an established blogger using it. I was unable to figure out how to change the blog name, that I started almost five years ago and never posted on, so… I got frustrated, found a different blogging app, changed the name, and got a domain name through them and I am off with my pasta salad.
I used a small bag of bowtie pasta as the base. If you want to change it to a grain such as rice, to a seed used as a grain such as quinoa, or to a “riced” veggie, go right ahead. I am making an American-Asian inspired fusion type flavor. I am using seasoned rice vinegar so it will get a bit of Asian flavor. You can use any vinegar that will go with your flavor profile. Apple cider vinegar would be great with a more American flavor of pork, yellow mustard, apples, and onions.
A bit of food safety, when tasting to see if you need a bit more of something, use a clean spoon or fork. Otherwise, if it is reused, bacteria can be transferred from mouth to food. As this pasta salad is not cooked after mixing, bacteria in the salad can cause it to spoil sooner.
As long as proper food safety is observed, this pasta salad will last about 3-5 days in the fridge when sealed.
Note: When finishing the dressing and after adding it to the pasta and veggies are two good points to taste. If adding something, like a bit of honey, add a little. You can always add a bit more. Without making more of the vinaigrette base, you cannot take away.
I definitely made more vinaigrette dressing than I needed for the salad. The ratio is either 3 parts oil to 1 part vinegar or 9 parts oil to 3 parts vinegar to 1 part mustard. I should have used 3 tablespoons of my virgin olive oil, 1 tablespoon of the seasoned rice wine vinegar and 1 teaspoon of mustard.
To add a bit of extra flavor, I added 1 part each of minced garlic and minced ginger and let to infuse while I was cooking pasta and cutting veggies. I should have started infusing earlier, possibly last night when I added marinade to my pork chop.
The chopped veggies I used were frozen tri color carrots, fresh onion and sweet girkin pickles. Add as many as you like.
Here is my vinaigrette, waiting to be whisked together. I have a stand mixer and used that to mix the dressing when I drained the pasta in a collander. Note that I used already minced garlic and ginger, and used a mixer to whisk the dressing for me to make things easier. I did use a decent quality knife to chop the onion, frozen carrots and pickles into diced cubes.
I transferred the pasta from the collander to the bowl with the veggies and used a spatula to gently mix them together with the dressing. I folded, scooping through from the bottom up to the top, rather than using a wooden spoon and stirring hard like I was making cookies. The goal is to have enough dressing to coat the pasta and veggies without puddling in the bottom of the bowl.
That done, I put my marinaded pork chop into the pan to saute. Basically, sauteing is just frying in a small amount of oil. Since the marinade had oil in it, I didn’t add any. I set a timer for 20 minutes of cooking time, but, you probably guessed, I got impatient. So I diced it up and tossed it back in. A whole lean pork chop or chicken breast takes about twenty minutes to saute when cooked whole. Increase the outside and decrease the inside by dicing it and it takes maybe five to ten depending on the size. Hoisin sauce is a thick, dark, somewhat sweet and rich tasting Asian sauce that I like. That is one of the ingredients in the marinade and is making the pork chop look so dark.
The pork chop finished, it is also gently folded into the salad.
All finished. Num! The best part is as it hangs out in the fridge, the flavor gets better as they blend together.
So, use pasta, grain, or what have you as the base. Add produce, raw, cooked or some one way and some the other, one protein or several, and a vinaigrette dressing. Make a small batch like mine for one to nom on for a few days, or make a large batch for the family potluck, or any size in between. Apples go well in pork or chicken salads, add grapes, raisins, ham or bacon to chicken, go vegetarian and saute tofu, tempeh or seitan make it what you want or can have.
Recipe
Base – pasta, grain, grain substitute
Boil or steam according to directions
Protein – sauteed meat or meat substitute, cheese, nuts can be added
Saute meat or meat substitute. Nuts can be tossed in pan for about 1 minute to toast, if you want to use toasted nuts
Produce – pickle of choice, veggies, fruits can also be added
Can be sauteed, raw or mix of both techniques
Dressing – 9:3:1 or 3:1 healthy oil to vinegar to mustard, if used
A Timid Goddess in the Kitchen 