For a side dish, I’ve come up with an interesting avocado pasta salad. Over the years I’ve had many a pasta salad and pretty much loathed the lot of them, so I decided to see if I could come up with a recipe I liked. I did and it’s pretty simple.
I’m not a cook who does precision. Things are always to taste, and at best I can offer approximations. But here’s the gist of it:
six small avocados, diced
pound of dry pasta with an interesting shape (rotini, or whatever, just something with a good mouth feel)
4 bell peppers (mixed colors is nice, but not necessary)
a number of fresh jalapeños to taste. One is probably enough for those entertaining kids.
a shallot
olive oil
balsamic vinegar
salt
pepper
garlic powder
Dice the avocados into bite sized chunks.
Boil the pasta to a bit short of al dente. The heat carryover and vinegar in the dressing will finish any cooking needed (yes the vinegar will ‘cook’ it).
Dice the bell peppers into small chunks.
Mince the shallot and jalapeño fine.
Once the pasta is done and cooled down (after boiling dump in an ice bath to make sure it doesn’t overcook) throw everything in a large mixing bowl with the spices and toss with a goodly drizzle of olive oil and balsamic vinegar (don’t get carried away, but enough to make sure everything sees some).
Let it sit a while so the flavors get time to blend. Best made the day before really.
Gonna try it..That’s actually pretty neat..obviously the avocado replaces the mayo..you know what might be nice..just before serving...dice two more avocados..toss them in..you’ll get to taste the small chuncks..