Cold Pasta Salad with Black Beans and Corn

I like a good, cold pasta salad. Especially in the summer. If it's good enough, I will pretty much eat it any time of the year.  As a general rule, the more a pasta salad "sits" it the fridge, the more the flavors meld and it tastes better over time.

This particular cold pasta salad was on our table for our New Year's Eve dinner. Easy to throw together, and easy to eat!

Boil some salted water for the pasta.

Drain and rinse the black beans, drain the corn kernels.

Dice up some red bell pepper, celery and green onion.

Chop up some fresh parsley.

By this time, the water is probably boiling, so add in the pasta.

While pasta cooks, put everything into a great big bowl.

Drain and cold rinse the pasta. Add it to the big bowl-o-stuff.

Pour out some balsamic vinaigrette.

Pour vinaigrette over everything in the big bowl.

Stir everything together. Cover and chill until ready to serve!

Cold Pasta with Black-Eyed Peas and Corn

Serves 10

1 box cavatappi (corkscrew) pasta
1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 can sweet white corn kernels
2 large celery stalks, diced
1 red bell pepper, cut into narrow 1-inch strips
2 scallions, thinly sliced
1/4 cup finely chopped fresh parsley
1/2 teaspoon dried dill

1/2 teaspoon oregano
1/2 cup balsamic vinaigrette, homemade or bottled
Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

Cook the pasta in salted boiling water 8-10 minutes. Drain and rinse under cool water, then drain well again.

Combine the cooked pasta with the remaining ingredients in a serving bowl, and toss together. Cover and refrigerate until needed, or serve at once.