Mexican food is probably my favourite cuisine of all time, I just love all the slow cooked joints of fatty meat combined with zesty guacamole and spicy salsa all wrapped up in a taco, the flavours that just dance together in your mouth, but sometimes I fancy something a little healthier but with a lot of the same flavours.... and I can now introduce you to my Mexican pasta salad. Works perfectly well on its own or as a side dish to a bit of protein. It tastes the best served straight away but will keep in the fridge covered up for a couple of days.... if it lasts that long!
My dressing is mayonnaise based so I like it to be light but fell free to double the dressing ingredients if you like a heavily coated pasta salad.
Prep time 20mins
Assembly time 5mins
250g dried fusilli pasta
1 red pepper, finely diced
8 cherry tomatoes, roughly diced
1 medium green chilli, seeds removed and chopped very finely
3 spring onions, sliced
1 avocado, diced, squeeze a drizzle of lime juice over them to stop them turning brown
80g tinned sweetcorn, drained
80g or half a tin of mixed beans, drained and rinsed
4tbsp freshly chopped coriander
4tbsp mayonnaise
1/2tbsp hot cholula hot sauce
Juice of 1/4 lime
1tsp oregano
1/2tsp paprika
1/4tsp pepper
1/4tsp dried chilli flakes (optional)
Once you have all your veggies prepped, bring a large pan of water up to the boil, add a large pinch of salt and cook your pasta according to packaging.
While your pasta is cooking make your dressing by adding all of the dressing ingredients to a small bowl and mix well until combined. Have a taste and add a little extra seasoning if you require, or maybe even some more hot sauce.
Once your pasta is cooked, drain it and drizzle with a dash of extra vigin olive oil, or a dash or your dressing and stir, this will stop it from sticking together. Pop to one side and allow to cool for a few minutes.
Grab a large mixing bowl and add your chopped salad ingredients.
Add in the cooled pasta, give your dressing another quick whisk if its been sitting there for a few minutes and then add to the mixing bowl.
Stir well until all of the pasta, chopped salad and dressing are well combined.
Have a taste, you may need to add a little salt at this point. If you do add any extra seasoning give it another stir to combine.
Garnish with a little extra extra chopped coriander, and serve.
