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.

Easy Breezy Summer Salad - Shrimp, Orange and Avocado Salad

Summer is almost over.  For those of you already back in school, summer is over.  As much as I love winter and fall dishes, I still love a hearty (read: not hungry within two hours after eating it) summer salad.

You can always play with a salad and add or drop whatever you like. It won't get mad at you, I promise.  Personally, I really used to dislike salads. Regular (lettuce, tomato, onion and dressing) salads. Boring and pretty tasteless, I think. They don't fill me up at all, and you will find me raiding the cabinets before too long.

Now? I like 'em. But I like 'em my way...with tons of "stuff" in them. Like this one!! After eating a plate of this, I was indeed full and satisfied.  No nighttime kitchen raids for me...

Shrimp, Orange and Avocado Salad
serves 6



2 heads of romaine lettuce, shredded
1/2 red onion, thinly sliced
6 small easy-peel oranges, peeled and segments pulled apart
1 cup red or green grapes, halved
1 pound shrimp, cooked, peeled, deveined with tails removed
2 avocados, peeled, pitted and cut into chunks
1 tsp lemon juice
1/3 cup olive oil
3 Tbsp lime juice
2 Tbsp Dijon mustard
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes

Whisk together the olive oil, lime juice, mustard, salt and red pepper flakes. Set aside.

Sprinkle lemon juice over avocado chunks so they don't turn brown. Set aside. (Cutting the avocado open and slicing/dicing is usually one of the very last steps I do.)

Divide romaine among six serving plates. Scatter red onion, avocado, grapes, orange segments and shrimp. Drizzle with dressing mixture.