Apron Strings to Diamond Rings: Pasta Salad with Cilantro Dressing

Thursday, January 5, 2012

Pasta Salad with Cilantro Dressing

This week Trader Joe's had avocados on sale, which meant, most of my meals were going to be filled with avocados! YAY! I love them. They're a super food (I believe) filled with good fats, great texture, and wonderful vitamins. I was on Pinterest today when I saw a corn, avocado, tomato, cilantro salad and figured I could tweak it so I could use what I had in my refrigerator. With leftover pasta from the other night, fresh tomatoes and avocados, and a bunch of cilantro on it's way out (it doesn't last long), I put together a cold pasta salad. Here's what I did!

Makes 1 serving:

Pasta (cooked and chilled), 1/2 cup

1 tomato, chopped

1/2 avocado, chopped

Dressing

a small handful of cilantro, minced

1/8-1/4 cup of EVOO

pinch of salt

1 t of agave nectar (or honey), just a small amount*

lime juice (half a lime)

*If you wanted to do a more traditional dressing you can switch out the Agave nectar for vinegar.

Mix the dressing ingredients together either by whisking in a bowl or shaping in a container. Taste and adjust if needed. You want a hint of lime, with a bit of sweet and tart. It's oddly wonderful!

Drizzle the dressing over the pasta, avocado and tomato. Happy eating!

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How I Started Cooking

I am no professional chef, nor have I even taken professional cooking or baking classes. I create my dishes from the heart, reading and researching a combination of recipes, putting that knowledge to use and either developing my own recipe or amending one I have read. My love for working in the kitchen began when I was very little, watching my mom bake and cook. In high school I received the opportunity to take two semesters of cooking classes with a wonderful teacher. She is the woman who taught me how to make chicken broth from scratch, properly measure flour and most importantly, read every recipe at least once through before beginning. This is not to say that my mother didn't have a substantial role in my quest to conquer the kitchen. My mother is the one who let me go wild in the kitchen, throwing random ingredients from the pantry into a bowl just to call it 'peanut butter cookies' because they contained peanut butter. That was when I learned that if it contains flour, it most likely has to be baked. Thanks Mom!