Foxfield, Part 2

In addition to making a dessert for Foxfield I decided to also bring some sort of pasta salad type thing. I thought it might be a good way to ensure we had something else hearty to eat and since pasta salads are a traditional staple of picnic/tailgating fare it would fit into the overall spread.

The trick was to find something that did not use dairy since we needed something that would be ok sitting out for a good part of the day. I looked around and found a recipe for Gazpacho Pasta Salad on one of my newer food blog finds—Cheap Healthy Good. This is the second recipe I’ve tried from CHG (the first was a vegetarian bean chili that Jason and I both really enjoyed this winter) and I’ve got to say—I am fan. It’s nice to have a source for good food that is also healthy and that doesn’t require a lot of expensive ingredients. CHG also provides the nutritional and cost breakdown for each recipe it provides.

This particular pasta salad takes all the ingredients from gazpacho (a delicious, veggie-based cold soup that is great for the summer when tomatoes are at their peak freshness) and adds some rotini in for good measure. To me it sounded like a great dish for day out in the sun (or rain, as the case may be). And (as with many, if not most, of the recipes I make lately) it was super easy to make! First you make the sauce—a can of diced tomatoes, red pepper flakes, garlic, basil, salt, and red wine vinegar all go into the blender and come out pure deliciousness. Then you chop up red pepper, yellow pepper, cucumber, scallions, and parsley and toss it all together with some cooked pasta.  SO GOOD!

Gazpacho Pasta Salad
Adapted (a tiny tiny bit) from Cheap Healthy Good

Ingredients:
1 (14 ½ ounce) can diced tomatoes (I used the garlic and onion variety for maximum flavor)
3 small garlic cloves (might want bigger ones if you don’t use the garlic-y tomatoes—see above)
1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
¼ cup fresh basil leaves
1 TBL red wine vinegar
Salt
1 pound rotini pasta
1 cucumber (I used the hot-house or English variety since they are a little less juicy), peeled, quartered lengthwise , seeded, and cut into small chunks
1 red bell pepper , chopped
1 yellow bell pepper, chopped
1 pint of grape (or cherry) tomatoes, halved
¼ cup fresh parsley, chopped
3 scallions, thinly sliced
2 TBL olive oil

1.Combine diced tomatoes, garlic, red pepper flakes, basil, vinegar, and ½ teaspoon salt in a food processor or blender and process until smooth. Transfer to a non-metal bowl, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least two hours.
2.Cook pasta in salted water according to directions. Drain and rinse well with cold water.
3.Combine remaining ingredients in a large bowl. Add pasta and tomato sauce and toss well. You can serve immediately or refrigerate until ready to serve.

Next week there will be a recap of our day at the races and how my dishes were received. Stay tuned!