Spicy Vegan Southwestern Pasta Salad

All Photos © Christine Elise McCarthy 2016

To see images of my past posts & get links to the recipes – look on my Pinterest board – HERE.

Pasta salads are so easy & vegan ones can sit out at a BBQ with no worry of anything going bad (like mayo). I made this for a Memorial Day party but I added WAY too much chili powder. I am going to reduce the quantity I suggest here. The fact is – you could just toss the ingredients with your favorite BBQ sauce & call it a day – but the lime juice & chili powder add some depth. I used these noodles below – but I broke the long noodles into thirds. I love this pasta because it looks cool & photographs really well but any pasta at all will do. The quantities of the ingredients are loose & you can go with more or less of lots of them with no negative impact on the salad.

Spicy Vegan Southwestern Pasta Salad

INGREDIENTS

1 lb pasta – cooked & drained under cold water

1/4 olive oil

1/4 cup lime juice

2 tsp chili powder (I used 2 TBS & it was NOT a good thing)

1/4 cup (or more) BBQ sauce (I used Hak’s Thai Chili Tamarind – because that is what I had – but a more traditional BBQ sauce might suit this salad better)

2 tsp cumin

1-3 garlic cloves – minced

12 oz frozen corn

1 (15 oz) can black beans – drained & rinsed

1 bell pepper – chopped (I used an orange one)

1-2 jalapenos – chopped (I used red ones)

4 tomatoes – diced

1/4 cup chopped cilantro

S&P

Extra cilantro as garnish

DIRECTIONS

Whisk the olive oil, lime juice, chili powder & cumin together. Set aside.

Toss all the remaining ingredients well. Add the olive oil mixture incrementally – tasting as you go. You might not use all of it. Season with S&P & maybe stir in more BBQ sauce.

Serve with additional cilantro.