Southwestern Pasta Salad

Sometimes, winter in Utah sucks.

No. I don't hate the snow. I don't love the freezing cold, but I can put on enough layers. I love to ski. I love to snowshoe. I love to sled. I enjoy XC skiing. I love trail running in the snow.

Here is what I don't like. SMOG.

Utah is mountainous and beautiful. But, Utah has way too many people for a mountainous region and therefore gets terrible SMOG. Because the Wasatch Front is soup bowl (AKA valley with mountains on both sides), the angle of the sun in winter can't melt the snow. That creates cold air. When there are no storms, a high pressure system brews (really quickly) and traps all the pollution down in the valley. So we get this nice brownish gray air to breath (bad enough that there is an app to tell you if you should go outside or not), but in the mountains it is blue skies, sunny, and warm.

It is awful. It forced me to do 14 miles IN THE GYM yesterday.

So. We're leaving.

Not moving. Just going out of town for a few weeks. Off to New Zealand where it is summer and not smoggy. Wish us luck. 16+ hours on a plane with my very energetic 18 month old son on my lap will be interesting.

So to say goodbye, I leave you with a dish that reminds me of summer because it is light, refreshing, and full of veggies I normally pull out of my garden. Southwestern Pasta Salad. I adapted the recipe from Our Best Bites.

Ingredients

1/2 lb. pasta

1 can black beans, drained and rinsed

1 can pinto beans, drained and rinsed

1 carton cherry tomatoes

1 red bell pepper, diced

4-6 green onions, diced

1 c frozen or fresh corn

2 avoacados, diced

2 limes, zested

6 T lime juice (3 juicy limes)

1/4 c white vinegar

4-5 cloves garlic

1.5 tsp chili powder

1 tsp cumin

1/2 tsp coriander

1/3 c olive oil

1/2 c cilantro

agave, a drizzle

salt, a few shakes

Directions

1. In a medium pot, bring water to boil. Add pasta and cook until al dente. Drain and run under cold water until cool.

2. Meanwhile, zest 2 limes and place zest in a large salad bowl.

3. Place lime juice, vinegar, garlic, chili powder, cumin, coriander, and agave in a blender and process until smooth. Slowly add oil in steady stream until mixed. Add cilantro and pulse to break up. Set aside.

4. Add beans, tomatoes, peppers, green onions, corn, and avocados to bowl with lime zest.

5. Once pasta is cooled, add to bowl and mix. Toss with dressing, season with salt if needed, and chill 1 hour.

6. ENJOY

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