Saturday, September 5, 2009

Wagon Wheel Taco Pasta Salad


We didn't take a major vacation this summer because we were planning on starting our kitchen renovations (updates to come soon!) in August, so we were in major saving money mode. We wanted to get away for at least a few days though, so we rented a cute little house near Lake Travis in Austin. In another cost-saving measure, we decided to take advantage of our house's kitchen and make most of our meals ourselves instead of going out to restaurants. Since this was our vacation, I wanted to keep it simple, but yummy, and this definitely fit the bill. The only problem is it makes enough to feed an army, and we ended up with more leftovers than we could eat! Here's the full recipe, but unless you're planning on feeding a crowd, I would cut this way down.

1 pound wagon wheel pasta (I'm sure other kinds of pasta would work just fine, but the recipe called for this and it's such a cute shape!)
1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 10 oz. package frozen corn (I used canned)
2 medium tomatoes, seeded and diced
8 oz. shredded Mexican-blend cheese
1 1/2 cups salsa
1/2 cup olive oil
3-4 tablespoons lime juice
1 tablespoon cumin
1-2 teaspoons chili powder
2 garlic cloves, minced
Salt and pepper
1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro
1 avocado, diced

Cook pasta to al dente, drain and rinse with cold water. In a large bowl, combine black beans, corn, tomatoes, salsa and cheese. Add pasta and mix well. In another bowl, whisk together olive oil, lime juice, garlic, cumin and chili powder. Pour over pasta salad, add cilantro and mix well. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Just before serving stir in diced avocados.

Source: carascravings.blogspot.com

1 comment:

Amanda said...

So, we too, are taking advantage of our cabin's kitchen and making this salad right now!!! Yum =)