Recipe: Pasta Salad With Chicken, Summer Vegetables And Mint
A lesson about "resistant starch" and an easy pasta recipe that'll benefit your microbiome.
I’ve been reading about the health-promoting concept of resistant starch recently and to my delight discovered that you can make your own by cooking and then fully cooling most starchy things like pasta, potatoes and rice. Creating resistant starch is a good way to transform high glycemic index carbohydrates into low glycemic index foods that help keep our blood sugar low and steady. For maximizing the “resistance” it is best to chill overnight. These transformed starches are apparently not easily digested in the small intestine so they keep moving along until they are broken down in the large intestine and then feed the “good bacteria,” which anyone paying attention to the microbiome knows is the way we want to go.
But just as important, cold summer pastas are delicious and great to have on hand for quick lunches or dinners when you’d rather be spending time in your garden or hiking the myriad gorgeous trails in our region than standing at the stove. Cold pasta salads are also a fantastic vehicle for moving leftovers like roast or grilled chicken, but I always balance them with freshly blanched or even raw veggies to keep the flavors lively and vital. These cold salads are a great place to showcase your best extra virgin olive oil and brightest and most complex vinegars — so don’t be stingy, baby!
Pasta Salad With Chicken, Summer Vegetables And Mint
For 4
4 cups cooked and cooled elbow macaroni or other small-shaped pasta
2 cups diced cooked and cooled chicken of your choice
2 cups lightly blanched asparagus or other green vegetable, chilled
½ cup lightly sautéed shiitake mushrooms, chilled
½ cup chiffonade of fresh mint or combination of herbs
1 Tablespoon freshly grated lemon zest
1/4- 1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
2-3 Tablespoons red wine or aged sherry vinegar
Generous grating of either parmesan or pecorino cheese (or both!)
Crunchy sea salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Because I promised an easy recipe, the technique is super simple: put everything above in a bowl and toss well to combine. Dig in.
