This recipe is an easy to make Asian inspired cold pasta salad to take on your next picnic.

I have spent the last week going over my calendar for July because there is a lot of tasks, events and responsibilities happening for me. Thats why make ahead meals are great.

Instead of grabbing fast food, try making this simple and delicious tasting pasta salad to go with some grilled protein of your choice. The dressing is comprised of many commonly found condiments and spices you likely have in your pantry already. Other than that, some thicker noodles, shredded carrots, cilantro and optional shredded hard cheese like parmesan. I added some salted peanuts I had left over for additional crunch.

The dressing in this dish uses a dab of sriracha hot sauce. Its a slight kick but nothing most people can’t handle. My parents are not fans of spicy foods whatsoever and they loved the dressing on this pasta. Besides sriracha having a bit of a spicy flavor, it has some vinegar and a dab of sugar that lend to the chili flavor. One substitute you could add is a sweeter sauce that is now readily available in most grocery stores. It’s still a chili sauce but has a less vinegar flavor. It’s called Mae Ploy. If you choose to use the Mae Ploy, substitute it for the Sriracha in the dressing recipe. One other substitute for sriracha would be some whole grain mustard. It would give the kick without the spice of the chili.

One other item of note in this recipe is to pay attention to the cooking instructions on your pasta. The directions on the box I bought said to boil for 6 to 8 minutes. This means to put the pasta into boiling water and cook for 6 to 8 minutes. I set a timer for 6 minutes and then drained the pasta. After that I threw the pasta directly into the prepared sauce where it continued to cook a bit since it was still hot. I found that cooking the pasta for the least recommended amount of time gives the pasta the best doneness texture. I am picky about textures of food. Over cooked pasta can be a mushy, flavorless disaster if you’re not careful.

To cool the pasta down, I stirred it into the sauce and then poured the whole mixture onto a sheet tray lined with foil. This is where the pasta salad can cool down the best for about 30 minutes on a flatter surface before putting it into a sealed and covered container and refrigerating it overnight.

Right before service, I added some precut carrot strips, diced red onion and cilantro. If you feel like you want to give the dressing a bit of a shape up the next day, you can either reserve some from the day before or make a bit of extra to reserve and toss the next day. I didn’t feel this was necessary. The pasta was plenty saucy for me the next day but some people are fans of the extra sauce.

This salad is great on it’s own or it also goes well with marinated and grilled steak, chicken or even a thick grilled Portobello mushroom. Enjoy!

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Cool Bucatini Pasta Salad

An easy cool Asian inspired pasta salad that is best made ahead to serve chilled.

Course Brunch, Dinner, Lunch, Main Course, Potluck,, Salad, Side Dish, Snack

Cuisine Asian,

Keyword Dinner, Lunch, Appetizers, Gluten Free, For Two, Kids, Wraps,

Prep Time 15 minutes

Chill Time 2 hours

Total Time 2 hours 15 minutes

Servings 4 people

Chef Julie Chef Julie

Ingredients

6 oz Bucatini Pasta Approx. half the box
4 c. water

Dressing

2 Tblsp. rice wine vinegar plain
1 Tblsp. extra virgin Olive Oil
2 Tblsp. soy sauce
1 tsp. sugar agave nectar or brown rice syrup can be substituted but you'll need to double the amount used as it is a more concentrated flavor.
1½ tsp sriracha sauce
1 tsp onion powder
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp black pepper

Salad

1 c. shredded carrots
1 c chopped cilantro leaves
½ c. diced red onion
¼ c. chopped peanuts (optional) pre roasted and salted
¼ c. parmesan cheese (optional)

Instructions

Start by putting the water into the sauce pan and bringing it to a boil.
Add the pasta and stir regularly for 6 minutes. While the pasta is cooking, prepare the dressing.
Prepare the dressing by adding all ingredients together in a mixing bowl and whisking liberally for at least 60 seconds or until all ingredients are combine well.
When the pasta is done cooking, drain it from the water in the collander and add it to the dressing. Stir to coast the pasta.
Pour the dressing and remaining sauce onto the sheet pan to let it cool for approximately 30 minutes.
After 30 minutes, add the pasta and sauce to an airtight container and refridgerate for a minimum of 2 hours.
Before serving, chop the cilantro, dice the red onion and add the carrots all to the pasta and toss the pasta. Top with chopped peanuts.

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