Southwestern Pasta Salad

I've been gone for a week, so it's been awhile since my last post. It's also been awhile since I made this salad but thought that I better get it posted before the 4th of July! Memorial Day, 4th of July... at least I did get it posted =-)

There were actually 4 different kinds of pasta salad at the BBQ that we went to with this recipe. Quite the popular dish. I knew that going in and made this recipe accordingly. It sounded good to me, so I knew that I would have no problem eating the leftovers. Even with the other salads, we came home with less than half the bowl. Not too bad.

I started with the recipe listed here on allrecipes.com but modified it quite a bit. I used less oil, more lime juice, and less chili powder out of necessity. Unfortunately, I ran out of chili powder after about 1-1/2 Tablespoons. In the end, this may not have been a bad thing as it seemed to be plenty spicy at the BBQ. After a day or so, the "spicyness" seemed to fade, and I would have added more to the leftovers had we had any in the house. I also added a can of chopped green chiles to go along with the southwestern flavor. My last change was to use whole wheat pasta.

I made the bulk of the salad the day before to allow the flavors to sit together, but I did not add the tomatotes until just before leaving for the BBQ. I also added just a little bit more lime juice after stirring to make sure that the pasta would not be dry. As pasta salad recipes go, this seems to be a pretty good one. I certainly can say that I enjoyed it!

Southwestern Pasta Salad
1/2 pkg. (box) whole wheat rotini pasta

1/4 c. canola oil

1/3 c. lime juice

1-1/2 Tbsp. chili powder, or to taste

2 tsp. ground cumin

1/2 tsp. salt

2 cloves garlic, crushed

1 (15 oz) can whole kernel corn, rinsed

1 (15 oz) can black beans, rinsed and drained

1 can green chiles

1/2 c. diced green bell pepper

1/2 c. diced red bell pepper

1 small bunch cilantro, chopped

1 c. chopped roma tomatoes

Cook pasta according to package directions. In a large bowl, combine canola oil, lime juice, chili powder, cumin, salt and garlic. Stir in pasta and set aside to cool to room temperature, stirring occasionally.

Stir in corn, beans, green pepper, red pepper, and the cilantro. Chill overnight or until ready to serve. Add chopped tomatoes just before serving.