Greek Pasta Salad

June. The first summer of my fully divorced life. The word "divorced" sits in my vocabulary more comfortably now, like a pair of shoes I have been wearing for four months — still visible, still noticeable, but no longer cutting. I introduce myself without the word. I do not say "I am divorced." I say "I am a writer and a yoga teacher and I live in Portland with my daughter." The facts are arranged in order of importance. The divorce is not among them. The divorce is a thing that happened, not a thing that defines.

I made Fumiko's somen — thin wheat noodles served cold with a dipping sauce, the ultimate Japanese summer dish. The noodles are cooked in exactly ninety seconds, then plunged into ice water and served on a plate with dipping tsuyu and grated ginger and sliced green onion. Somen is the fastest meal in Japanese home cooking — faster than onigiri, faster than ochazuke, a meal from pantry to table in three minutes. Fumiko served somen on the hottest days, when Sacramento shimmered and the kitchen was an oven and the only tolerable food was something cold and slippery and gone in three bites. I serve it on Portland's hot days, which are fewer but just as sincere.

Miya finished her first year of kindergarten — the hybrid, pandemic version, half in person, half at the kitchen table. She can read now. Not well, not fluently, but the letters have become words and the words have become sentences and the sentences have become stories that she reads aloud to me at bedtime, slowly, finger tracking under each word, her voice the voice of a person discovering that marks on a page are also sounds in the air are also meanings in the mind. The discovery is revolutionary. Every child who learns to read is making a revolution. Miya's revolution is a quiet one, happening in a one-bedroom apartment in Southeast Portland, witnessed only by her mother and a chipped ceramic bowl.

I sent the agent two more chapters — the Japan chapter (written before the trip, as a wish) and a chapter about the tamagoyaki pan, about the object as archive, about the way a seasoned pan holds the history of every egg that has ever been cooked in it. Sarah said the Japan chapter is "breathtaking." The anxiety said: she's being kind. The writing said: she's being honest. I believe the writing. The writing has not lied to me yet.

There are no somen noodles in most Portland grocery stores—not the real kind, not the kind Fumiko kept in the back of her pantry like a secret weapon against August. On the days I can’t find them, I make this Greek pasta salad instead: cold, briny, done in the time it takes Miya to read me two pages of her book. It has the same logic as somen—cook the noodles, cool them down, arrange the toppings, eat—and the same effect: you feel less burdened after, lighter, like the heat has been answered.

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

Ingredients

12 oz rotini or penne pasta
1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
1 cup cucumber, diced (about 1 medium cucumber)
1/2 cup pitted kalamata olives, halved
1/2 cup red onion, thinly sliced
1/2 cup roasted red peppers, chopped
4 oz crumbled feta cheese
1/4 cup fresh parsley, chopped
1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
3 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon salt, plus more to taste
1/4 teaspoon black pepper

Instructions

Cook the pasta. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Cook pasta according to package directions until al dente. Drain and rinse under cold water until completely cool.
Make the dressing. In a small bowl or jar, whisk together the olive oil, red wine vinegar, oregano, garlic powder, salt, and black pepper until combined.
Combine. Transfer the cooled pasta to a large bowl. Add the cherry tomatoes, cucumber, olives, red onion, roasted red peppers, and parsley. Pour dressing over the top and toss well to coat.
Add feta. Gently fold in the crumbled feta cheese, taking care not to break it down too much.
Chill and serve. Serve immediately at room temperature, or refrigerate for up to 30 minutes for a colder salad. Taste and adjust seasoning before serving.

Nutrition (per serving)

Greek Pasta Salad — The Coolest Thing You Can Make in Summer