Pasta Salad – The Perfect Festival Food

Characterize Memorial Day weekend. Barbeques, family gatherings, playing on the lake, camping, sunshine...music festivals. I've met most of my closest friends through music, and every Memorial Day weekend we travel by car, plane or RV to north Georgia. We park and pop tents; for three days we hear great music, reconnect with friends, dance and eat good food.

It's a misconception that camp food has to be bland or basic. The best chicken salad, by-the-plate barbeque and boiled peanuts in the South, I've found at Amberland. The Lowcountry boil last year was delicious, and the cocktails have never let me down.

But it's always a challenge to think of foods that are tasty, transportable and sharable – easily made in bulk. Pasta salad typically meets these requirements, thus it makes frequent appearances at this annual celebration. When I came across this asparagus, corn and sun-dried tomato pasta salad recipe, I knew it would be perfect.

Asparagus, corn and sun-dried tomato pasta salad

 (Food Network Magazine)

½ pound rotini or fusilli pasta

1 cup corn

1 – 2 cups asparagus

½ – 1 cup sun-dried tomatoes

1 – 1 ½ cups creamy parmesan dressing

Cook your pasta as the label directs – I prefer al dente. Blanch the corn and asparagus. To blanch, boil vegetables until crisp; drain and cool briefly in a bowl of cold water. Dice sun-dried tomatoes (you can save some time by purchasing these already chopped). Combine these ingredients and set aside.

Dressing:

Mix ¼ cup mayonnaise with ¼ cup sour cream. Add 1 tablespoon lemon juice and ¼ teaspoon grated garlic (minced works just fine). Gradually add in ¾ cup grated parmesan cheese.

If the salad is too sticky or tacky, mix in a drizzle of oil to smooth it out.

Refrigerate for at least four hours before serving, and keep cool to preserve freshness.

Pasta salad favorites

Here are some of my favorite pasta salad add-ins and combos; enjoy and alter them to please your palate.

I first starting using sweet peas in my pasta salads after trying this recipe. They really do look adorable nested in those small shells. Sweet peas, feta cheese and smoked ham are excellent combined in a pasta salad.

Anything with crisp broccoli and bacon.

Toasted pine nuts and dried cranberries with chicken in pretty unbeatable.

Seeded, diced cucumbers, cherry tomatoes and fresh dill make an excellent combination.

A good garlic oil dressing: 3 cloves of garlic, roasted and sliced; cook these with a palm-full of red pepper flakes and 1/3 cup oil over medium heat, stirring frequently. Cook for 5 minutes. Let cool; salt and pepper to taste.

Basic vinaigrette dressing: ½ cup oil; 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar; 1 minced shallot; salt, pepper and fresh basil to taste.