The Best Creamy Pasta Salad
1 pound chunky pasta (like fusilli)
1 large tomato, seeded and diced
1/2 cucumber, diced with or without skin
1 avocado, diced
juice of 1/2 lemon
1/2 cup Spanish olives, chopped
1/4 cup red onion, chopped
1/4 cup tahini
1 cup red wine vinegar, to taste
2-3 tablespoons olive oil
salt and pepper, to taste
1. Boil pasta according to package directions. Drain and rinse well with cold water when tender. Set aside. Sprinkle avocado with lemon juice.
2. Place vegetables in a large salad bowl. Make dressing by combining tahini, vinegar, oil, and lots of salt and pepper in a small bowl. Whisk until smooth.
3. Add cooled pasta to vegetables in bowl, then add dressing. Mix gently until well combined. Serve with a bit of salt and pepper on top. Leftovers should be refrigerated (there are never any at my house).
I like my pasta salad tangier, but if you like creamier, increase tahini and decrease vinegar.
SO HOW'D IT GO?
Awesome! I needed to make something for christmas that didn't need to be warmed up and that omni people would like. This was perfect!! I loved it and everyone at dinner loved it too. My avocado was not ripe yet, so I had to leave that out. Was great without it. I did use a little more tahini. I will be making this again for the summer time. Thanks! ;D
Yeah maybe I just don't like that much red wine vinegar ( i also used less than 1/2 cup) but it was too STRONG). I threw it out...sorry.
I don't know if Red Wine Vinegar is quite the right thing, I used much less than called for but it still tasted kind of sour....not bad, reasonably edible, but not an outstanding flavour either , very "vinegary". I don't know whether the quality of the Red Wine Vinegar makes a difference... the one I used had been sitting in our pantry for a long time (does vinegar go bad??). I may experiment with substituting the Red Wine Vinegar for something else.
Otherwise it was good. I took it to a party and everyone seemed to think it was okay. It's healthy that's the main thing!
So this is my new favorite recipe on this site. Seriously, amazing! I put maaaybe 1/2 cup of red wine vinegar in because really I tend to hate it, but that was just enough to make it slightly tangy but keep the creaminess of the tahini. I LOVE this recipe.
i wish i wouldve remembered to use less vinegar like the reviewer before me cus this was waaaay to strong tasting. even when i added more tahini the sauce just really overpowered everything with such a tangy/sour flavor. i ended up adding an entire container of dill flavored hummus to try to cut it down, it helped but it was still too strong.
This has become my standard potluck/BBQ/picnic dish to make. Everyone loves it, and most importantly *I* love it. :) I almost always use less vinegar than what's called for, and add many more veggies, according to what I have in the house. It's always a different dish, which is cool. Many thanks to the OP of this recipe - I'd never thought to use tahini this way before!
I love this recipe! It was a hit at a bbq I went to the first time I made it. Now its my standard summer party dish -- a hit among vegans and omnivores alike!