Weekends during summer, especially if you’re at the beach or the “Rivah” (Richmondese for “at my river house”) can get way too hot and muggy to want to cook in the kitchen. But if you’re in the mood for an easy and elegant lunch, what are you to do?You can prepare this deliciously refreshing salad without hovering over the stove if you buy pre-cooked shrimp. Or you could fire up the grill and boil the shrimp and pasta outside without heating up the kitchen. Remember, the grill is just an outdoor gas, wood or charcoal-fired oven.

If you’re not grilling up all-American burgers and hotdogs today, you might want to give this a shot. Feel free to toss in any vegetables that you like. Broccoli works really well, as do peppers, especially red ones. And the bowtie pasta is just pretty, but subsititute away. In the image above (I forgot to take a picture of the real thing before diving in…) the shrimp is accompanied by crabmeat and a penne style pasta. As with most things, the dish goes really well when served with a cold Rosé cava like Cristalino.

Cold Shrimp Salad with Bowtie Pasta for 4.

3 green onions, chopped

salt and pepper to taste

1 rib of celery, chopped

parsley, minced (maybe a tablespoon?)

1/2 box of bowtie pasta, cooked al dente and cooled in an ice water bath.

mayonnaise, 1 TBS

sour cream, 1 tsp

1 dill pickle or 1/2 dozen cornichons, chopped

1/2 lb of large, fresh shrimp, cooked in shell and then peeled and deveined.

Mix all ingredients together in a large bowl. This dish can be prepared a day ahead and kept cold in the refrigerator. But it’s hard to resist the urge to sneak a spoonful or two.

One of the great advantages to being next to the ocean is the abundance of really fresh seafood. One of the disadvantages to being in a rented house is having to use the ubiquitous electric stove. I perfer gas, if only because it is very forgiving for the amateur cook. So after the first day and night of burning food and boiling over the potatoes, I decided to do something cold for the next evening’s dinner. Luck was with me and the Seamark grocery store had a quantity of sushi grade tuna for sale. Since I didn’t have sticky rice for the sushi, I opted for a dinner of Tuna Tartare. Delicious! It would have been even better made with smoked sea salt, but the salt air from the ocean was the best stimulant for the appetite and I don’t think that anybody noticed my omission.

This would make an easy and elegant centerpiece for a buffet table or a great starter for a small dinner party.

Herewith: Tuna Tartare for Four.

3/4 to 1 lb. of sushi grade tuna, chopped.

Juice of 1 lemon

1 TBS of Olive Oil.

2 TBS. of Red Onion, minced.

4 fillets of anchovies, minced, smashed or otherwise pulverized.

1 tsp. of capers.

6 cornichons (or other small dill pickles), chopped

Sea salt or smoked sea salt to taste.

Fresh cracked pepper to taste (I like a generous sprinkling.)

1 TBS of fresh parsley, finely chopped.

1 clove of garlic, split in two.

Rub the inside of a salad bowl with the split clove of garlic. Discard the clove. Pour the olive oil, salt and pepper into the bowl and mix. Add the other ingredients and toss to coat. Form into a mound in the center of the plate. Serve with toast points or rye bread or crackers. I also added steamed edamame with Garnish the plate with lemon wedges if you’d like.

Goes wonderfully well with a rosé sparkling wine like Cristalino Roseé Cava.

An architect friend of mine has made effortless entertaining into a high art form. Although you wouldn’t know it on really big party days where he sweats the small details until, being a good Southern Gentleman of the old school, the last guest to arrive has been poured a drink and pointed towards the buffet.

The big parties are always casually elegant affairs, with staff and bartenders to help with the 200 or so friends who descend. But my friend really shines on those days when we are invited with a few other intimates to a “casual supper.” There, the silver is always polished and waiting wrapped in starched linen napkins, the plates are stacked by the mammoth urn that serves as the salad bowl, drinks are on the drinks tray and something as simple as chicken salad never looked as elegant.

Sounds tough to pull off, doesn’t it? Well, polished silver aside, the chicken salad is a combination of careful shopping and good presentation. Not so much as a celery stalk is chopped in the process. So how do you pull off an afterwork casual supper for 6 or so without slaving over a wet cutting board?

Visit the salad bar.

At out local supermarket, Ukrop’s, we are fotunate enough to have wonderful produce, both in the produce isle and at the salad bar. So, a quick trip might reveal good looking broccoli along with the chopped chicken. Care for Chicken Salad Veronique? Grab a few grapes from the fruit section. Or Oranges to mix with the chopped nuts and blue cheese sprinkles….. It’s all in the mix.

The Architect’s Archetypal Chicken Salad

About a pound of chopped chicken will serve 6 for lunch.

Add a couple of tongs full of whatever looks good of the
chopped celery
chopped nuts
grapes or raisins (or a bunch of fruits to mix for a fruit salad to serve on the side — sprinkle with a little brandy, Kir, limoncello or vodka)
shredded carrots
broccoli florets
chopped onions
pickles or relish
cherry tomatoes
chopped eggs
olives
bacon bits
crumbled blue cheese
Spinach leaves (for garnishing or to serve as a side salad.)

Next, buy a small jar of mayonnaise (like Duke’s “The Secret of Southern Cooks”) and some dry mustard (you’ll use about a 1/2 tsp.) if you like a mustard/mayo taste. You may mix in a teaspoon of curry powder or tarragon instead. If you are using fruit, a small container of sour cream will mix well with the mayo for a slightly sweeter taste. Add a few White House rolls or bakery hard rolls to warm in the oven. (For more ideas see this article from Real Simple (the photo above illustrates Real Simple’s “Chicken Salad Four Ways.”)

That’s it.

Head home, pull out the biggest and best looking bowl you’ve got, mix the dressing in the bottom (adding salt and pepper) and toss in the ingredients. Garnish the insides of the bowl with the spinach leaves. Or serve the spinach on the side as a salad drizzled with a vinegrette. And don’t forget the basket of warmed rolls.

Julip, iced tea or wine? Did you starch the napkins?