By An ordinary week at Rivera's. The kind of week I used to take for granted at the firehouse and which I now recognize as the backbone of everything. Monday: closed, family day, burgers on the altar with Jessica and the kids. Tuesday: 184 customers, brisket sold out at 2:45 PM, the pulled pork held until close. Wednesday: 191 customers, a table of eight ordered the community table experience (the full Rivera's menu served family-style at the mesquite table — our most expensive and most popular option). Thursday: Gerald at the counter, Roberto beside him, the two of them reading newspapers in companionable silence while eating brisket plates. Friday: 208 customers, the weekend rush starting early.
Saturday: birria day. The line formed at 10:30 AM. Patricia was first, as always. We served eighty pounds of birria — up from sixty when we started, because the demand has outpaced every projection Jessica made and Jessica's projections are usually conservative. The birria sold out at 1:15 PM. A man who arrived at 1:20 PM and missed the birria by five minutes said he would set an alarm for next Saturday. The sold-out is the story. The story sells the restaurant.
Sunday: Tomás ran the kitchen. I took the day off. The family went to Mass at Our Lady of Perpetual Help, then to Maryvale for the Sunday cookout at Roberto's. The cinder block grill. The carne asada. The folding tables. The tradition that has not changed since 1982, even though the man at the grill is sixty-six now and leans on the cane between flips and the man at the altar is thirty-nine and owns a restaurant and the children at the table are ten and seven and growing so fast that every Sunday feels like a photograph that I need to take with my eyes because the camera is too slow to capture what time is doing to this family.
Elena made enchiladas — her enchiladas, the ones with the red sauce that she makes from dried chiles and which she has been making for forty years and which taste like the kitchen in Maryvale and the hands of a woman who has fed two generations and is working on a third. I asked Elena for the enchilada recipe. She said, "You know the recipe." I said, "I know the ingredients. I do not know your hands." She smiled. The recipe is not in the ingredients. The recipe is in the hands. The hands are Elena's. The recipe belongs to her, even when it leaves her kitchen.
The ordinary week. The backbone. The beauty.
Elena’s enchiladas will stay in Elena’s hands — that’s exactly where they belong. But standing at Roberto’s that Sunday, watching the folding tables fill up and the carne asada smoke rising off the cinder block grill, I thought about all the dishes that hold a gathering together without demanding attention: the ones already on the table when you arrive, the ones that stretch to feed whoever shows up. This Salad Supreme Pasta Salad is that dish. It’s not the star of the cookout. It’s the backbone — and some weeks, the backbone is the most beautiful thing at the table.
Salad Supreme Pasta Salad
Prep Time: 15 minutes | Cook Time: 10 minutes | Total Time: 25 minutes (plus 1 hour chilling) | Servings: 10
Ingredients
- 12 oz rotini pasta (tri-color works well)
- 6 oz pepperoni, quartered
- 1 can (2.25 oz) sliced black olives, drained
- 1 red bell pepper, diced
- 1 green bell pepper, diced
- 1/2 medium red onion, finely diced
- 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
- 1 bottle (16 oz) zesty Italian dressing
- 1 packet (1.06 oz) McCormick Salad Supreme seasoning
- Salt and black pepper to taste
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. Set aside to cool completely.
- Prep the mix-ins. While the pasta cools, quarter the pepperoni, dice the bell peppers and red onion, and drain the olives. Combine all in a large mixing bowl.
- Combine. Add the cooled pasta to the bowl with the pepperoni and vegetables. Toss to distribute evenly.
- Dress and season. Pour the Italian dressing over the salad and sprinkle the entire packet of Salad Supreme seasoning on top. Add the Parmesan cheese. Toss everything thoroughly to coat.
- Chill. Cover and refrigerate for at least 1 hour before serving. Toss again before serving and taste for salt and pepper. Add a splash more dressing if the pasta has absorbed too much.
Nutrition (per serving)
Calories: 320 | Protein: 10g | Fat: 18g | Carbs: 30g | Fiber: 2g | Sodium: 740mg