Recipe Station

So here are three of our favorite cold noodle salads. Many of these take just a few minutes to make!

ANTIPASTO PASTA SALAD

The bits & pieces:
Noodle: orzo
Sauce: pesto (or any not-yet-named green sauce you can scrounge up from your refrigerator)
Vegetables: caramelized onions, fresh baby greens
Protein: prosciutto, soppressata, or another type of salami or cured meat (optional)
Doodads: chopped olives, chopped sun-dried tomatoes and roasted red peppers, lemon zest

The big picture:
The jars on your refrigerator door have joined forces in a pasta salad that tastes like the best parts of an antipasto platter (or an Italian hero). To bulk it up, top it with folded prosciutto or mix in cubes of salami or Parmesan.

If you have everything on hand, this salad will be ready as soon as the orzo is cooked (10 minutes!). If you're not quite so stocked, you can caramelize the onions in the oven for a hands-free, low-commitment alternative and buy pesto, sun-dried tomatoes, and roasted red peppers from the store. (We won't tell.)

SPICY SOBA, COOLING CUKES

The bits & pieces:
Noodle: soba
Sauce: quick chile oil
Vegetables: cucumbers (we used Kirby and lemon cucumbers)
Protein: soft tofu
Doodads: sesame seed

The big picture:
Often, tofu is manipulated, massaged, and generally manhandled before it goes into stir-fries, soups, and noodle salads. It's frozen, pressed, bread, fried, baked—all maneuvers that take lots of energy—and a hot oven or stove. But here, you'll appreciate silken tofu for what it is, un-messed-with: creamy, cold, jiggly, and welcome company to crisp cucumbers and fiery oil.

This recipe comes from the latest edition in the Short Stack collection, Cucumbers by Dawn Perry. You'll find a three-ingredient chile sauce you can turn to again and again, whether you want a spicy hit over ricotta, pizza, or a bowl of white rice and steamed broccoli—along with a smart tip for making cucumbers their best selves: Take the time to salt them. A fifteen-minute salt treatment will draw the water out of your cukes so that they'll be crunchier and more flavorful.

But don't throw that cucumber liquid down the drain—it's where fresh flavor lives. Dawn strains the liquid, then whisks it into the dressing, for “big, fresh flavor against the cold, buttery tofu.”

JUST CALL ME PIZZA PASTA

The bits & pieces:
Noodle: bow ties (but any other small pasta with pockets can stand in)
Sauce: raw tomato sauce, like Michel Guérard's Sauce Vierge or Emiko Davies' Salsa Cruda di Pomodoro
Protein: sliced mozzarella balls
Doodads: fresh basil, toasted pine nuts, splash of red wine vinegar, cracked black pepper

The big picture:
This salad's here for you when you have time but no energy (so, the weekend). To make the largely hands-off tomato sauce, you need only patience: For Michael Guérard's Genius Sauce Vierge, all you have to do is chop some tomatoes, smash a couple garlic cloves, snip herbs, douse with olive oil and lemon juice, and wait.

The only component to “cook” is the pasta. As soon as the tomatoes have turned to sauce (after about 2 hours), boil the pasta, toast the pine nuts, and slice the mozzarella. Mix it all together, add more basil and a splash of red wine vinegar, and you've got the flavors of a margarita pizza, pasta salad-style.

Also a good home for cubed or shredded chicken, the salad will get even better over time. Just try not to fish out all the mozzarella pieces before you've served the leftovers.

Have you ever made any of these cold noodle salads? What are some of your favorite cold noodle bowl recipes? Share your thoughts in the comment section below!

Article Source: Food52