Ingredients and Method to make Southwestern style Pasta Salad
1/2 cup dry red kidney beans soaked for 6 to 8 hours with a pinch of soda (soda is optional)
1/2 cup dry black beans soaked for 6 to 8 hours with a pinch of soda (soda is optional)
3 1/2 cup dry any type of pasta like rotini or penne ( I used Barilla plus multi grain rotini)
1 large onion cut lengthwise
1 cup sweet corn kernels
1 green bell pepper cut fine
3 stalks celery cut fine (optional)
2 tbsp oil
For the dressing
1/3 cup olive oil (see notes)
1/4 cup lime juice/lemon juice (or to taste) (see notes)
salt to taste
1 tsp paprika
2 tsp cumin powder
2 tsp chili powder (or to taste)
generous handful cilantro cut very fine for garnish
Drain the water the beans were soaked in, fill with fresh water and cook the beans seperately until soft either using the stove top or pressure cooker. Keep the cooked beans aside.
Cook dry pasta as per the instructions given in the packet, remove from heat, drain and keep aside.
Heat oil in a large heavy bottomed pan, add onions and saute until transparent.
Then add celery and sweet corn and saute until the sweet corn is softer and cooked. Remove from heat.
In a small bowl, add oil, spices, salt and lime juice and mix well.
Add cooked pasta to the onions,celery and corn and mix well. Add finely cut bell pepper to it and mix well. Now drizzle the oil + lime+ spices mixture on it and mix well.
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Garnish with cilantro.
Serve at room temperature or chilled.
Serves approximately 4
Notes
Preferably when cooking the beans, add just enough water to cook it. I fill my container containing beans with water upto 1/4 of an inch above the beans and pressure cook it, that works out fine for me. In case you use the stove top keep adding water as required while cooking the beans. In case there are a few teaspoons of water remaining you can use it as is in the salad. In case there is a lot more water than that, then drain the water before adding beans to the salad.
If you use store bought lime or lemon juice you may need a little more, if you use fresh lemon/lime then a couple of tbsp may be sufficient.
Update: When I made this subsequently I started using only about 2 to 3 tbsp olive oil instead of 1/3 cup for the dressing and still think the salad tastes very good.
Suggested variance:
Reduce chili powder and instead saute 1 jalapeno cut fine along with the onions and add to the salad
1/2 cup dry red kidney beans soaked for 6 to 8 hours with a pinch of soda (soda is optional)
1/2 cup dry black beans soaked for 6 to 8 hours with a pinch of soda (soda is optional)
3 1/2 cup dry any type of pasta like rotini or penne ( I used Barilla plus multi grain rotini)
1 large onion cut lengthwise
1 cup sweet corn kernels
1 green bell pepper cut fine
3 stalks celery cut fine (optional)
2 tbsp oil
For the dressing
1/3 cup olive oil (see notes)
1/4 cup lime juice/lemon juice (or to taste) (see notes)
salt to taste
1 tsp paprika
2 tsp cumin powder
2 tsp chili powder (or to taste)
generous handful cilantro cut very fine for garnish
Drain the water the beans were soaked in, fill with fresh water and cook the beans seperately until soft either using the stove top or pressure cooker. Keep the cooked beans aside.
Cook dry pasta as per the instructions given in the packet, remove from heat, drain and keep aside.
Heat oil in a large heavy bottomed pan, add onions and saute until transparent.
Then add celery and sweet corn and saute until the sweet corn is softer and cooked. Remove from heat.
In a small bowl, add oil, spices, salt and lime juice and mix well.
Add cooked pasta to the onions,celery and corn and mix well. Add finely cut bell pepper to it and mix well. Now drizzle the oil + lime+ spices mixture on it and mix well.
The copyright of this content belongs to Veginspirations.com
Garnish with cilantro.
Serve at room temperature or chilled.
Serves approximately 4
Notes
Preferably when cooking the beans, add just enough water to cook it. I fill my container containing beans with water upto 1/4 of an inch above the beans and pressure cook it, that works out fine for me. In case you use the stove top keep adding water as required while cooking the beans. In case there are a few teaspoons of water remaining you can use it as is in the salad. In case there is a lot more water than that, then drain the water before adding beans to the salad.
If you use store bought lime or lemon juice you may need a little more, if you use fresh lemon/lime then a couple of tbsp may be sufficient.
Update: When I made this subsequently I started using only about 2 to 3 tbsp olive oil instead of 1/3 cup for the dressing and still think the salad tastes very good.
Suggested variance:
Reduce chili powder and instead saute 1 jalapeno cut fine along with the onions and add to the salad
