I was wanting a quick and delicious salad at the weekend and so I cobbled together this salad from a bit of this and a bit of that and it all worked together beautifully. We (Myself and my next door neighbor) quite enjoyed it. Todd, the great pasta hater, tolerated it and ate it. Personally I thought it was quite delicious and was very happy with how it had turned out.
It was a delicious mix of cooked bow tie pasta and crisp fresh vegetables . . . . peppers, onions, corn niblets . . . tinned black beans, ripe avocado, ripe garden cherry tomatoes . . . and a punchy tex mex dressing. I was tempted to add some cheese, but at the last minute I didn't. I think a nice jack or cheddar would be quite at home in this however.
The dressing takes advantage of Tex Mex Flavours . . . lime, coriander, cumin, chili, garlic and cayenne. You can adjust the amounts to your own tastes. I, personally, don't like food that bites back and so I tend to keep things rather mild, but if you are wanting really spicy, then you may use more of course!
I had both red and yellow cherry tomatoes this time, which really added to the colour and vibrancy of the salad. I know that there will be English food purists that will poo poo something like this being in "The English Kitchen," but I think you will find that the UK is now a virtual melting pot of many cultures and flavours and whilst this certainly wouldn't be traditional . . .
There are a great many circles in which it would be very much appreciated. Tex Mex is becoming even more popular over here as time goes by. I quite like it myself. ☺
*Tex Mex Pasta Salad*
Serves 4 to 6
Delicious, easy and perfect for those days when you just can't be asked to cook.
For the dressing:
3 TBS olive oil
3 TBS rice vinegar
5 TBS fresh lime juice
1 tsp sugar
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp of chili powder (or to taste, in North America you can use up to 1 1/2 tsp of North American
chili powder, which is a lot milder than the chili powder here in the UK)
1 tsp ground cumin
pinch cayenne pepper if desired
1 tsp salt
1 tsp freeze dried Coriander flakes (Cilantro)
For the salad:
225g of pasta bows (8 ounces, 2 cups uncooked)
1 large mug of frozen corn niblets (1 cup)
1/2 400g (14 ounce) tin of black beans, drained, rinsed and drained again
(Freeze the rest for another time)
1/2 each medium sized red and yellow bell peppers, chopped
1 punnet of ripe cherry tomatoes, halved (about 1 cup before cutting in half)
1/2 medium red onion, peeled and finely chopped
1 ripe avocado, peeled and cut into chunks
chopped parsley to garnish
Put all of the dressing ingredients into a jar and shake well. Set aside.
Cook the pasta according to the package directions and adding the frozen corn the last few minutes. Drain well, rinse with cold water to cool it down and drain again. Put into a large bowl, along with all of the salad ingredients. Shake the dressing together again and pour over the salad. Toss to coat. Serve at room temperature.
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