Friday, July 23, 2010

Pasta Salad with Chickpeas, Cauliflower, and Hearts of Palm

20100714_cauliflower

This summer I'm making pasta salads with raw vegetables, which I just stumbled on, but I like them because, hello, less cooking, and also the raw vegetables stay better, and actually, taste even better after a few days in the fridge. The vinaigrette sort of cevichizes the vegetables so they don't taste raw, but they don't get soggy like cooked vegetables.

5 Tbsp orange juice
1 tsp salt
pepper
1 tsp thyme
1/2 cup olive oil
12 oz whole wheat short pasta
a small head of cauliflower
one can hearts of palm
one can chickpeas

Put some water on for the pasta.

Measure orange juice into a large bowl. Add salt, pepper, and thyme. I don't actually measure them, but you use more salt than you might think because it has to flavor the whole salad. Drizzle the olive oil over the orange juice and whisk it in.

Cut up the cauliflower into very small florets and toss them in the vinaigrette. Cook the pasta according to package directions, about ten minutes or until al dente. Meanwhile drain and slice the hearts of palm, and rinse and drain the chickpeas, and toss them with the cauliflower. When the pasta is done, drain and toss with everything else.

Pasta Salad with Broccoli, Cherry Tomatoes, and Cannellini Beans
Same as above, substituting cannellini beans for chickpeas, broccoli for cauliflower, and cherry tomatoes for hearts of palm.