Pasta salad in a box no match for homemade

By Jane Snow
Knight Ridder News Service

A box of horror is lurking in the cupboard of a relative or friend. It could attack your taste buds at any moment.

Be afraid. Be very afraid of "instant" pasta salads that come in a box. They are no quicker to make than homemade pasta salad, and they taste like a chemistry experiment.

Want proof? Here's a partial ingredients list of one product we tested last week: modified corn starch, sugar, maltodextrin, corn syrup, whey, artificial flavor, monosodium glutamate, hydrolyzed corn protein, disodium guanylate, disodium inosinate and soy flour. The second-most-plentiful ingredient, after macaroni, is salt.

Yum.

Despite the salty, chemical flavor, it's a safe bet that someone you know — maybe even you — is going to whip up a batch this summer. Maybe these picnic hosts actually like the flavor. But maybe they bought the product because they thought it was convenient.

If the latter is the case, we're here to set the record straight. In reality, boxed pasta salad mixes are no more convenient than pasta salads made from fresh ingredients.

In a side-by-side test, we pitted Suddenly Pasta Salad against four homemade pasta salad recipes. All of the salads were assembled in the time it took the pasta water to heat and the pasta to cook, which was 15 to 20 minutes, depending on the shape of the pasta. The one boxed mix we tested took 20 minutes to make, from the time the kettle of water was placed on the stove until the salad was ready to eat.

In the same amount of time, with no more work, you could make our Quick Italian Pasta Salad. It is our clone of the Italian-flavored Classic variety of the boxed salad.

The homemade salad is prepared by tossing a jar of marinated olive and artichoke salad with pasta, pine nuts, parmesan cheese and a diced tomato. Chopped fresh parsley is added for color and to mimic the look of the dried parsley in the commercial salad.

Marinated artichoke salad is sold in 12-ounce jars in grocery stores. Any brand will do. The one we bought contained olives and strips of roasted red peppers. If you can't find artichoke salad, look for an olive salad in an oil-based marinade.

If one salad is good, four are even better, we figured. So we created three more quick pasta salads that beat the pants off the boxed versions. Our lineup:

Moroccan Orzo Salad: Ricelike orzo pasta is mixed with garbanzo beans, raisins, sliced almonds and roasted red pepper. The colorful salad is dressed with olive oil and lemon juice and spiced with cinnamon, cardamom and mace.

The warm-flavored spices give the salad a slightly exotic flavor, but don't overpower the lemon and olive oil. The raisins provide a touch of sweetness. This was my favorite salad.

Pasta Salad Carbonara: The classic hot pasta dish of pancetta, egg yolks and cheese gets the cold treatment here. We substitute cooked bacon (the already-cooked variety) for the pancetta and hard-boiled eggs for the egg yolks.

The creamy dressing is made by thinning sour cream with milk. Freshly grated parmesan, salt and freshly ground pepper are the final touches. The salad must be at cool room temperature before serving, or the dressing will be thicker than desired.

This salad was the favorite of the two male taste testers.

Asian Pasta Salad: Long, curly fusilli pasta, which looks like spaghetti with a perm, is the perfect foil for the Chinese flavors of our Asian salad. The noodles curl around chunks of cucumber, slivered snow peas, shredded carrots and sliced green onions. All is bathed in a dressing of sesame oil, vinegar, soy sauce and ginger. Leslianne Love, a University of Akron culinary student who helped prepare the salads, liked this one best.

Any of the four salads would be a good accompaniment to a burger this summer. The Asian salad would also go nicely with grilled fish, and the carbonara salad would partner well with a steak.

Do yourself a favor and tell your friends and relatives you'll bring the salad. Your new culinary skills may scare them, but the salad won't.

Quick Italian Pasta Salad

• 1/2 pound bow-tie pasta
• 1 jar (about 12 ounces) marinated artichoke, pepper or olive salad
• 2 tablespoons pine nuts
• 1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
• 1 diced tomato
• Salt, pepper
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley

Cook pasta in boiling, salted water according to package directions until tender but not mushy. Drain and rinse under cold, running water. Drain well.

While pasta cooks, combine artichoke salad, pine nuts, cheese and tomato in a serving bowl. Stir in drained pasta. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Stir in parsley. Chill for at least 1 hour for better flavor.

Makes 6 servings.

Moroccan Orzo Salad

• 1/2 pound orzo (rice-shaped pasta)
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/8 teaspoon ground cardamom
• 1/8 teaspoon ground mace
• 1/2 cup raisins
• 1/4 cup sliced almonds
• 2 tablespoons chopped roasted or raw red sweet pepper
• 1/2 cup diced sweet onion
• 1/4 cup canned, drained garbanzo beans
• Salt to taste

Cook orzo in boiling, salted water according to package directions. Drain, rinse with cold water and drain well.

While pasta cooks, combine olive oil, lemon juice and spices in a serving bowl; whisk well. Stir in remaining ingredients. Stir in drained pasta.

Makes 6 servings.

Pasta Salad Carbonara

• 4 eggs
• 3/4 pound ziti or penne pasta
• 1 package (2.1 ounces) fully cooked bacon
• 1 tablespoon chopped garlic
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1/3 cup sour cream
• 1/4 cup milk (or more)
• 2 tablespoons grated parmesan cheese
• Sea salt, freshly ground pepper

Gently place eggs in a large pasta pot filled with lukewarm water. Place the pot over high heat. Bring to a boil and add pasta.

After 10 minutes, remove eggs with a slotted spoon and place in cold water. Continue cooking pasta until tender but not mushy. Drain, rinse with cold water and drain. Peel eggs when cool. Chop into cubes.

While eggs and pasta cook, crisp bacon in a microwave oven according to package directions. Cut into 1/2-inch pieces.

Meanwhile, heat oil in a small skillet. Saute garlic over medium heat just until softened. In a small bowl, beat sour cream with enough milk to thin to the consistency of thick cream.

Place pasta in a bowl. Stir in garlic and oil. Stir in sour cream dressing and parmesan cheese. Fold in chopped eggs and bacon. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Serve immediately or chill. Bring to room temperature and stir well before serving.

Makes 6 servings.

Asian Pasta Salad

• 2/ pound fusilli pasta
• 1 tablespoon sesame oil
• 1/4 cup vinegar
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 2 tablespoons soy sauce
• 1 teaspoon powdered ginger
• 1/2 cup diced cucumber
• 3 ounces (1 big handful) snow peas
• 1/2 cup bagged, shredded carrots
• 2 green onions, sliced, including tops
• 2 tablespoons sunflower seeds
• Salt

Cook pasta in boiling, salted water according to package directions. Drain, rinse with cold water and drain very well.

Meanwhile, in a serving bowl whisk together the sesame oil, vinegar, sugar, soy sauce and powdered ginger.

Peel and dice cucumber. Wash snow peas, remove stems and stack five together. Cut on an angle into two halves. Stack and cut remaining snow peas. Measure carrots, slice onions and measure sunflower seeds.

Stir pasta into the dressing, tossing to coat every strand. Add remaining ingredients and toss well.

Makes 6 servings.