My One Hundred and Fifth - Chilled Pasta Salad -100 Meals You Never Thought You Would Eat Pureed - Recipes for Head and Neck Cancer patients

My One Hundred and Fifth  - Chilled Pasta Salad -100 Meals You Never Thought You Would Eat Pureed - Recipes for Head and Neck Cancer patients

It's June and we are already having a heat wave in Boston.  Always looking for something cold to eat on these hot days  . . . I'm tired of fruit smoothies . . . . tired of veggie smoothies . . . .

I had picked up penne pasta for my daughter and made her a chilled pasta salad for when she comes home from school.  You know, I could puree that too.  A vinegar based dressing could spice up the doldrums. 

There must be about a million different pasta salads recipes out there.  They all have pasta, veggies, and seasoning.  Some people throw in beans for a little protein.  There is no right way to make it, so don't worry.

Most of my summer pasta salads are a hodgepodge of what I have on hand, which is a result of what is fresh at the market.  For example, I wanted to add fresh corn on the cob  kernels, but neither my farmer's market nor Whole Foods had corn on the cob available.

The food is easy enough to puree.

RECIPE

1 cup pasta salad

1 cup water

PASTA
I like my pasta salad over cooked so it is nice and soft.  If you like firmer pasta, remember that pasta pureed and stored in the refrigerator will thicken up and absorb more water out of the blend.

VEGETABLES

The only vegetable that can be an issue is olives.  They don't puree as easily as the other cut veggies.  Puree twice to be sure.  Raw broccoli has a very strong flavor so you don't need much to flavor the blend.

BEANS
Can and boxed beans work best, because they are soft.  Besides when it's 90 degrees out who has time to cook fresh beans.  I cook my fresh beans in the winter when I need to both warm the house, and humidify the air.

SEASONING
There are a million different ways to season pasta salad,  when I'm not in an overly creative mood, I look at the bottles of salad dressing, and add a dash of two different dressing, with a little mayo as a thickener.

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