No picnic table is complete without a colorful, filling, refreshing pasta salad. My favorites are the ones without mayo, not just because glops of mayonnaise makes my stomach shudder, but also because it’s safer to pack up a pasta salad tossed in olive oil and vinegar and take it on the MBTA (for twenty minutes or two hours – you never know) to your picnic destination.
Fresh, local cherry tomatoes got my shopping list started.
Alongside gazpacho, baked zucchini sticks with sweet onion dipping sauce, fresh zucchini tart…
…and fresh tomato sandwiches made with a hint of Jen’s homemade mayo (which, despite my aversion to straight up mayo, were delicious).
All delicious!
Southwestern Pasta Salad
Adapted from Cinnamon Girl
Ingredients
8-12 ounces pasta
Sea salt
1/3 cup olive oil
2-3 Tbsps. fresh lime juice
2 tsps. honey
2 tsp. Chile powder
1 tsp. ground cumin
1/4 tsp. ground cayenne/red pepper (or more)
1/4 cup fresh cilantro or parsley leaves, finely chopped
1/4 tsp. fresh black pepper
1 small red onion, thinly sliced into half moons
1 can (14 ounce) black beans, rinsed and drained
1 pint grape tomatoes, cut in half
1 1/2 cups corn kernels, lightly steamed (optional)
- Cook the pasta according to package directions to al dente.
- While the pasta cooks, make the dressing by combining the olive oil, lime juice, honey, Chile powder, cumin, cayenne pepper, salt, pepper, and cilantro. Whisk together and store in the fridge if not using immediately.
- Drain pasta and toss with a tablespoon of olive oil to keep it from sticking. Once cooled, transfer to a large bowl and add beans, onion, tomatoes, and corn.
- Add dressing and mix together. Adjust seasonings as necessary, then store in the fridge. Toss before serving.
Mmmm looks delicious! The baked zucchini sticks also look so good in the photo 🙂
Beautiful, Aimee. I’ll be so sad to see the end of summer and garden-fresh tomatoes.
I’m so glad to see a pint of tomatoes go into this because I currently have millions and am running out of things to do with them. Just when I get rid of mine our neighbor gives us some of his. This looks delicious!
The pasta salad looks so good! I love a good mayo-free pasta salad
I love pasta salad, and this sounds/looks like such a delicious twist on the traditional!
Oh man, I love pasta salad! I’m bookmarking this for future summer picnics.
I also love those little blue cartons that your veggies come in. They don’t come like that in Australia, we’re all about plastic, which is sad.
This pasta salad was delicious. Wish I had some today in fact…