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Southwest Pasta Salad

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This quick and easy vegetarian Southwest pasta salad is loaded with black beans, corn, tomatoes, red onion, and al dente noodles tossed in a creamy avocado lime dressing and garnished with salty cotija cheese for the perfect summertime side dish! Ditch the mayo-laden pasta salads at your next backyard BBQ and surprise your friends with this unique pasta salad!

Ingredients

Scale

Salad:

  • 16 oz. pasta, cooked al dente and cooled
  • 1 (15 oz.) can black beans, drained and rinsed
  • 1 (15 oz.) can corn, drained
  • 1 cup halved grape tomatoes
  • 1/2 cup petite diced red onion
  • 1/2 cup cotija cheese

Dressing:

  • 1 ripe avocado, pitted
  • 1/2 cup sour cream
  • 1/2 cup loosely packed cilantro leaves
  • 1/3 cup lime juice
  • 1 teaspoon honey
  • 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
  • splash of water
  • Kosher salt
  • fresh cracked pepper

Garnish:

Instructions

  1. Add pasta, black beans, corn, tomatoes, onion, and cotija cheese to a large bowl.
  2. Add avocado, sour cream, cilantro, lime juice, honey, garlic powder, a splash of water and a couple pinches of salt and pepper to a high-speed blender or food processor. Blend until smooth and creamy.
  3. Pour dressing over the salad.
  4. Toss to coat evenly. Then garnish with tortilla strips, cotija, sliced jalapeno, and fresh chopped cilantro.

Notes

Moderately salt your pasta water. I'd recommend anywhere from 2-4 tablespoons of Kosher salt in your pasta water. Your pasta water should be as salty as the ocean. This is your first chance to season the pasta, so this is an important step.

Cook the pasta just until al dente. I like to set my timer for 1 minute less than the lowest recommended cooking time. So if the package says to cook the pasta for 9-11 minutes, I set my timer for 8 minutes and start tasting the pasta then. Once it's just al dente - tender but still has a bit of a toothsome bite - I drain the water immediately.

Slightly overripe avocados work well in the creamy dressing recipe for this Southwest salad. If you've got some avocados that are getting a little mushy, this Southwest pasta salad is the perfect recipe to use them up! Of course, perfectly ripe avocados will work too.

Switch up the veggies or add shredded chicken. You can totally customize this Southwest salad to suit your family's taste. Diced red peppers, sliced ripe olives, or even fresh baby spinach leaves would be great substitutes for any of the beans or veggies in this dish. Also, feel free to add leftover grilled chicken or shredded rotisserie chicken to make it more of a main dish a well.

The dressing will thicken a bit as it sits. Feel free to add a splash of lime juice to loosen things up a bit. Also, taste it after adding the lime juice - it will likely need another couple pinches of Kosher salt as well.

Nutrition

Find it online: https://midwestfoodieblog.com/southwest-pasta-salad/