Black-Eyed Pea and Pasta Salad

[Guest guest]

Preparation time: 30 minutes

Chilling time: 1 hour OR overnight

 

 

I know it's hardly summer anymore, but where I live it's still in

the high 80's, so I decided to make a new salad recipe, and you

know, healthy vegetarian salad recipes that actually taste good seem

very hard to find, especially if you're like me and nervous about

trying anything with tofu. So, anyway, this one is sooo

good! I don't make it with the bell pepper, mind you. I think the

pepper actually offset the flavour way too much.

 

 

Black-Eyed Pea and Pasta Salad

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Serving size: 4.

 

 

DRESSING:

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1/4 cup canola oil

1/4 cup red wine vinegar

1 & 1/2 tablespoons country-style Dijon mustard

1 tablespoon sugar

2 teaspoons grated fresh orange peel

1 teaspoon crushed fresh garlic

3/4 teaspoon ground cumin

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

 

 

Place oil and all remaining ingredients in a food processor or

blender, and process until smooth and very well blended. (A good

idea would be that when you're all done making the dressing to

run it through a strainer to catch any bits of orange or garlic

that weren't quite processed well. That would be quite nasty to

bite into a piece of either of those while eating!)

__________________

 

SALAD:

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1/2 pound multi-colored wagon-wheel pasta, cooked and drained

1 15-ounce can black-eyes peas or small red beans, rinsed and drained

1 14- & -1/2-ounce can Hunt's Choice-Cut Diced Tomatoes, NOT drained

2/3 cup sliced pitted black olives (I use more `cos I love `em!)

2/3 cup chopped red or green bell pepper, optional

1/2 cup sliced green onions

1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro, optional

 

 

1) Cook pasta according to package directions; drain and rinse.

2) In large bowl, combine pasta and all remaining ingredients.

3) Add dressing and toss gently to mix and coat.

4) Cover and refrigerate at least 1 hour or overnight to allow

flavours to blend.

 

Gently toss salad before serving, and garnish with green onions

or fresh cilantro! Bon appetit!

 

NOTE: Give a little kick to this salad by adding red pepper flakes

and hot pepper sauce. For another variation, try chopped

parsley and fresh oregano instead of cilantro.