Pasta Salad: 50 Favorite Recipes [Paperback]

Barbara Lauterbach (Author), Reed Davis (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 2004

Barbara Lauterbach, author of Potato Salad and Chicken Salad, has completed her lively salad trilogy. This time around, she's thinking inside the box -- box of pasta that is. Pasta Salad offers 50 recipes for turning everyone's favorite pasta selection into salad perfection. A light and easy summer dinner or an impressive plate to pass at any gathering, pasta salad fits the bill. Tubes, twists, or bows of cool pasta, delicately dressed, embellished with crunchy snow peas or roasted asparagus, toasty nuts, juicy chicken or tender sweet lobster meat, these salads can hold their heads up in any culinary company. And with a handy visual guide to help distinguish farfalle from fusilli, tips for pairing pasta with whatever ingredients are on hand, and other salad smarts, it's goodbye deli-counter, hello Pasta Salad.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Dedicated entirely to pasta salad’s many charms, Lauterbach’s appetizing cookbook gives readers a reason to start eating carbs again. Pasta salad usually brings to mind gummy macaroni and processed mayonnaise, but Lauterbach, whose other salad-themed books include Potato Salad and Chicken Salad, offers 50 innovative interpretations, such as Orecchiette and Roasted Butternut Squash with Honey-Ginger Dressing and Peaches and Pasta Salad with Mint. Her hearty and colorful Radiatore Beef Salad with Horseradish Dressing is a one-dish supper that’s a delicious way to use leftover steak, and her quick Pepperoni Pizza Salad is chewy and cheesy, a certain kid-pleaser. Lauterbach even makes pasta salad luxe with a Music Festival Lobster dish, a lush combination of lobster meat, tarragon, pasta shells, and homemade mayonnaise. Her recipes are all clearly written, beautifully photographed, and accompanied by charming anecdotal essays – about the restaurateur who came up with a special salad or the church potluck to which the author brings a new pasta salad every year. The book also includes a helpful guide to pasta shapes alongside instructions for blanching vegetables, toasting seeds, and whipping up vinaigrettes. The only weak note that Lauterbach hits is her recipe for Pippette and Surimi "Louis"; surimi is that sickly-sweet crab substitute made from processed fish. Why not use real crab? Otherwise, this book is a winner, making an old picnic staple seem new.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

About the Author

Barbara Lauterbach is a teacher and spokesperson for the King Arthur Flour Company. She teaches cooking classes and hosts culinary weekends at her New Hampshire home and country inn.

Reed Davis divides his time between New York and Los Angeles. His photographs have appeared in Martha Stewart Living , Food & Wine , and Country Home magazines.

Product Details

• Paperback: 108 pages
• Publisher: Chronicle Books (June 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0811842037
• ISBN-13: 978-0811842037
• Product Dimensions: 8.7 x 7.9 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #897,763 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Very Good coverage of a Classic Dish. Recommended, June 7, 2004

By 

B. Marold "Bruce W. Marold" (Bethlehem, PA United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Pasta Salad: 50 Favorite Recipes (Paperback)

The author of `Pasta Salad', Barbara Lauterbach, is a culinary teacher and author of two other books on traditional salad types, `Potato Salad' and `Chicken Salad'.

This type of cookbook is always one of the easiest to add to one's collection, in that if you like the single subject of the book, you are virtually assured of making good use of the book, unlike a volume by the latest celebrity chef or latest exploration of the cuisine of a former Soviet republic.

There are three key aspects of the book which add to its attraction. First, almost all recipes are not only fairly simple, they virtually all follow the same pattern, just like gratins, braises, and chowders. Second, although there are a lot of similarities in method, the range of tastes is broad. While French and Italian flavors are the most common, there is a strong contingent of Asian, Greek, and Latin flavors and textures from the use of Oriental noodles like udon, soba, and rice noodles. Third, since the noodles, `supporting cast' of meats and vegetables, and the dressings are so interchangeable, improvisation can take you well beyond the nominal fifty recipes in the book.

The book begins with five master recipes for vinaigrette, mayonnaise, roasting peppers, blanching vegetables, and toasting nuts and seeds. If you have few cookbooks, these are important to have near at hand. I may have added a recipe for aioli, at least as a variation on mayonnaise.

There are four chapters on salad recipes. The first, largest, and most interesting is on the vegetable pasta salad. The very first recipe for a salad including squash shows the variety of this dish. Other favorite and unusual ingredients are mango, jicama, pears, and peaches. As you could tell from the master recipe on roasting peppers, this is one of the author's favorite ingredients. It appears in several different vegetable recipes. The second and shortest chapter adds meat, primarily chicken. I would not be surprised to see a little borrowing from an earlier book in this chapter. The third chapter of recipes covers seafood with all the usual suspects, lobster, shrimp, anchovies, crab, tuna, and salmon. The last chapter of recipes is a catchall of recipes `from family and friends'. It is altogether fitting that this chapter ends with a recipe for the great American `retro macaroni salad' with mayonnaise, onions, bell pepper, and celery.

The book has the contemporary `de rigeur' feature of cookbooks is a headnote which tells a story of how each recipe was developed, it's life outside this book, and how it was chosen for the book. Except for attributions of recipes to family and friends, there is no credit given to any other sources. With a pinch of skepticism, I will believe that the author developed most of the recipes. I was almost expecting to see my favorite `World's Best' pasta salad recipe done by Jamie Oliver, but these are all just as good.

There are a few blemishes that are as much a weakness of the publisher's copy editor as of the author. One is the flip side of my pet peeve where it is said that salt must melt into the liquid of vinaigrette before adding the oil. For all the times the word `dissolve' is misused, here is a case where it is missing and it should have been used. Another blemish is an inconsistency in the amount of water specified for cooking pasta in the text and in a table. None of these are serious. I just hope that pointing them out will encourage book publishers to be more vigilant in future volumes.

Subjects the author may wish to consider in a second edition of this book are discussions of whole wheat noodles, the impact on a carb sensitive diet from these recipes, and a bit more discussion of mayonnaise and safe storage. I do give the author very high marks for notes on the `shelf life' of the recipes. That is, which should be served cold, which should be served warm, which can be refrigerated and for how long, and which should be served immediately. You don't always get this stuff in your Wednesday newspaper culinary supplement.

Highly recommended if you make pasta salads. Slightly pricy for fifty recipes, but the chances that you will use a large number of the recipes is very, very good. Easy for all skills and ages!

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Know your pasta, May 7, 2004

By 

"gajo1107" (Pittsburgh, PA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Pasta Salad: 50 Favorite Recipes (Paperback)

Whether you are a great cook or a family-pleasing cook, looking for something "different" to serve, do pick up the "Pasta Salad" cookbook by Barbara Lauterbach. She makes it so easy, by giving you a list of 22 different kinds of pasta, how to measure them and mix them with vegetables, meat, poultry and fish. There are many delicious and different dressings that complement the salads. You will love the salads offered by her family and friends, and delightful stories about each. This is a unique touch you will find in all of Barbara's books. This is a must, to add to your favorite recipes, or send to a friend you want to impress.

6 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Pasta Greats, May 17, 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: Pasta Salad: 50 Favorite Recipes (Paperback)

Barbara has done it again! Something for everyone. As
in her last 2 books (50 Potato Salads and 50 Chicken salads)she begins with her always helpful "Basics" and "Master Recipes" which even if you "know everything" are a great easy to read review and if not will certainly enhance your knowledge. From there it's great fun with a refreshinghly creative compilation of favorite new pasta greats. The photos by Reed Davis are delicious. Just can't count carbs at this level!!