Summer Vegetables!

Late August and early September is the season of bounty!  Pasta salads are perfect for this time of year because they can be made ahead for a quick supper, used for great healthy lunches for work and school and perfect for a fall potluck.   I adjust this salad to feature whichever vegetables are freshest and in the fridge.   This week it had cauliflower, carrots, peppers, cherry tomatoes and steamed romano beans.   I had plans to put grilled corn on top but ran out of energy.   That’s super yummy too!    Cut up Farmer’s sausage from Spragg’s and it was a meal in a bowl.    The dressing recipe below is from a great cookbook called Rebar by Audrey Alsterberg + Wanda Urbanowicz.   It’s inspired by a vegetarian restaurant of the same name in Victoria.  This recipe book is a great way to step into vegetarian food as they offer ideas, tips, add meat options as well as options to make a dish vegan. 

If you don’t have time to roast the peppers and garlic you can use the roasted ones you can buy in the antipasto section with the fancy olives at the grocery store.    The trick I find with any pasta salad is to use lots of dressing.   The recipe below makes a lot of dressing and it seems like you’re going to drown the salad.   But, once it gets stirred in and fills all the lovely ridges on the pasta it’s perfect.

Santa Fe Pasta Salad

Dressing:

2 roasted red peppers

4 cloves garlic roasted

2 tsp chipotle puree (these are the chipotle peppers in the can that have a great smoky flavour)  Puree it and keep it in a jar in the fridge- it’s worth it and keeps a long time. 

1 shallot

½ tsp salt

2 Tbsp rice wine vinegar

2 Tbsp fresh lime juice

¾ cup olive oil

Puree together. 

  

Cook 4 cups dry pasta such as fusilli.  Or some other kind of pasta that has ridges and spots to hold the dressing.    Drain and rinse with cool water.  

Add seasonal vegetables such as corn, tomato, beans, snap peas, cheese, sausage, salmon,

Season with your choice of fresh herbs, - dill, sage, rosemary, parsley, savory.

Pour the dressing on top and stir to coat well.   Refrigerate until serving.