Yes!  A new recipe!!!!

I made this for dinner last night and it was SO EASY to make and was also really flavorful (and my kid ate it with minimal complaining).  Feel free to add whatever veggies and fruit you like or have on hand.  It’s a great use-up for those that may be on their way to the compost bin, if ya know what I mean.  Grapes or nectarines would be a really yummy addition.

Easy Peasy Creamy Pasta Salad

2 cups dry pasta, any shape

1 cup carrots, chopped

1 cup peas, frozen

1 can kidney beans, drained and rinsed

1/2 pint cherry tomatoes, halved

1/2 cup cucumber, seeded and diced

Dressing:

1/3 cup vegan mayo of your choosing (I use Vegenaise)

1/4 cup fresh lemon juice (from 1 large lemon)

S&P to taste

Bring a large pot of water to boil.  When boiling, salt the water and add the pasta.  I used penne, which took about 9 minutes to cook through.  When your pasta has about 3-4 minutes left on it’s cooking time, add the carrots to the boiling water.  When it has about 2 minutes left, add the peas.  Cook until the pasta is tender, then drain and rinse with cold water.

While your pasta is cooking, whisk together the dressing ingredients in the bottom of a large bowl.  Add the remaining ingredients and the pasta/carrot/pea mixture once it has been drained and rinsed.  Toss to coat with the dressing and refrigerate until ready to eat.  If the dressing made just enough to cover everything, you may want to consider making a little extra since the pasta will absorb it and your leftovers may be a tad dry the next day.

To go with our pasta salad, I made Tofu Fish Sticks from Vegan Lunch Box.  These are so simple to make and are really good.  While the texture isn’t quite the same as I remember real fish sticks being, the taste is spot on.  I made a quick tartar sauce to dip them in by mixing some Vegenaise with sweet pickle relish.  Really, could our meal have been any simpler to prepare?!  I love easy (and relatively inexpensive) meals like this one.

The pasta salad could even stand alone as a meal itself, if paired with a simple green salad or something.  It’s got good protein in there from the beans and peas (yep, peas are pretty high in protein), as well as a good mix of veggies.  Like I mentioned above, the addition of some fruit would be really good.  When my mom made pasta salad when I was a kid, she always added grapes or nectarines and it was so good.  Seriously, you have to try it!