It’s Mrs. Ampolo writing to you, once again, from her summer kitchen.  I’ve managed to get you through a summer breakfast with a cool way to eat oatmeal and through cocktail hour with a beautiful and delicious pink drink—and some might say I’ve done my duty since we can all agree that breakfast and cocktails are the two essential meals of summer.

 I think, though, we better find one more way to use your freezer rather than your oven in summer food preparation. 

 Here’s Summer Supper—vegetarian friendly

 Can you boil a pot of water?  Boil one.  Cook any kind of pasta you have on hand…from whole wheat spaghetti to spinach rotini.  While it’s cooking for its 8 to 10 minutes, take out all your bags of frozen vegetables and make a mix—broccoli and cauliflower are especially nice.  This is a dish to keep you cool—so even if you have fresh produce, save that for another meal.  Frozen veggies are essential to the process here.  You can slice up any scallions you might have and add some minced garlic for the “fresh” ingredients..  Drain the pasta into a large bowl and throw in the frozen veggies, scallion, garlic—and any other easily wiltable produce like spinach or arugula. 

 Toss until the pasta cools and the veggies cook.

 Dress the mess o’ pasta with a combo of olive oil, balsamic vinegar and a good soy sauce.  If you store your nuts in the freezer (and you should—they go rancid fast, especially in the summer), you can pull those guys out too and throw a few handfuls into your toaster oven—briefly—they can burn fast.  Toss them on top and this pasta salad is fit for company.  And you’ve barely raised a finger or the temperature even one degree in your kitchen. And if you’re unfriendly to vegetarians, add some leftover chicken or something.  Improvise.

 Remember, if you can’t stand the heat…get the heck out of your kitchen and come to mine.

By the way, due to a bad winter in Europe, it may be difficult to find just the right pasta.  Oh for the good old days as recalled in this vintage video.