We made it to Nova Scotia on Canada Day and tomorrow is July 4th. And frankly, I’m all out of whack! What I do know is there will be a barbecue (if it ever stops raining) you are either hosting or attending over the next few days and I’m here to help you with the perfect side to bring.
I’ll start by saying, I’m not a pasta salad person. I wrote a whole book on pasta and didn’t include ONE. That’s about as far as I’ll go with a “hot take” as I am also not a “hot take” person. I am however, a rice salad person and I encourage you to be one too. The below recipe appeared in Colu Cooks: Easy Fancy Food, but I feel as though it’s merely a jumpboard for you to create a rice salad that speaks to you! Add tuna instead of salami, or don’t, add sun-dried tomatoes or not, swap out arugula for pea shoots or other baby greens, add some toasted pine nuts… In short, make it the back pocket pasta of rice salads and use what you have. In retrospect, I probably should have used Carnaroli rice, but live and learn.
This dish also transports very well and can be made ahead, so if you’re hosting or being hosted, you’re in good shape either way. If you do make it ahead, I would stir in the arugula closer to serving time, so it doesn’t get soppy.
Lastly, I finished season two of The Bear last week (sorry,
- I know your feelings on the recon, but I did work front of house and have a very dysfunctional Italian-American family, so I hope you’ll let me slide on this one!) and I wept through every episode. I liked season one just fine, but wasn’t as taken with it as the rest of the world. Wait, was that another “hot take?!” This season however, is simply one of the most beautiful television shows I have ever watched. The “Feast of the Seven Fishes” episode was particularly a masterpiece. If you haven’t already, get on it!Now, how about that recipe (?!), which is also very Italian-American.
Keep reading with a 7-day free trial
Subscribe to Colu Cooks to keep reading this post and get 7 days of free access to the full post archives.