Cucumber Pasta Salad

Week 375. Spring 2023. I am 40 years old and standing in my kitchen — the Bench house kitchen, the one that held cancer and divorce and cinnamon rolls — and the stove is on and something is cooking and the house smells like fresh herbs and possibility and this is my life. This is the life I built.

I went for a run this morning — the Saturday routine, the greenbelt, the river, the particular meditation of feet on a path and lungs filling and the body doing what it was told it couldn't do. The running group meets rain or shine.

Mason is 12 and reading everything he can find and examining the world under a microscope with the intensity of a tenured researcher.

Lily is 10 and riding horses with the fearlessness of someone who has never considered the possibility of falling.

I made radish and butter tartines this week. The food continues. The food always continues. It is the thread that connects every week to every other week, every year to every other year, every version of me to every other version — the woman on the kitchen floor, the woman at the chemo recliner, the woman at the grill, the woman at the outdoor table under the string lights. All of them, connected by the food they made with their hands. All of them, me.

The radish tartines were the kind of thing I made almost without thinking — bread, good butter, something fresh from the refrigerator — and afterward I wanted something just as unhurried to sit alongside dinner. This cucumber pasta salad is that dish for me: cool and crisp and honest, the sort of recipe that doesn’t ask much of you on a Saturday when you’ve already given the morning to the greenbelt and the afternoon to your kids. It tastes like spring, and right now, spring feels exactly right.

Prep Time: 15 min | Cook Time: 10 min | Total Time: 25 min | Servings: 6

Ingredients

8 oz rotini pasta
2 medium cucumbers, thinly sliced
1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
1/2 small red onion, thinly sliced
1/2 cup sliced black olives
1/3 cup crumbled feta cheese
1/2 cup Italian dressing (store-bought or homemade)
1 tsp dried Italian seasoning
1/2 tsp garlic powder
Salt and black pepper, to taste
2 tbsp fresh parsley, chopped (for garnish)

Instructions

Cook the pasta. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Cook rotini according to package directions until al dente, about 8—10 minutes. Drain and rinse under cold water to stop cooking and cool completely.
Prep the vegetables. While the pasta cools, slice the cucumbers, halve the cherry tomatoes, and thinly slice the red onion. Pat the cucumber slices dry with a paper towel to keep the salad from getting watery.
Combine. In a large bowl, toss together the cooled pasta, cucumbers, tomatoes, red onion, olives, and feta.
Dress and season. Pour the Italian dressing over the salad. Sprinkle in the Italian seasoning and garlic powder. Toss well to coat everything evenly. Taste and adjust salt and pepper as needed.
Chill and serve. For best flavor, cover and refrigerate for at least 15 minutes before serving. Garnish with fresh parsley just before bringing it to the table. The salad keeps well in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.

Nutrition (per serving)

Cucumber Pasta Salad — The Food That Keeps Connecting Us