Well there’s more to this pasta salad than just avocados and oranges but those are the extra fun bits, I think.
This is a Saturday afternoon salad. You know the kind. The hectic Saturday afternoon of running errands where you might skip lunch because you’re looking at a new karaoke machine. (Yes, karaoke. More on that another time.)
When we got home we were both so hungry and it was a choice between reheating leftovers for a late lunch or get started on an early supper. Instead I said forget it and made something totally different. Though this pasta salad has a creamy dressing, it’s rather light. Loads of veggies and the brightness of citrus makes this a really refreshing salad. And a perfect late afternoon lunch.
You can really put whatever vegetables you want in this salad. It doesn’t really matter. It all tastes good.
- 1 lb brown rice penne pasta, cooked, rinsed and cooled
- 1 cucumber, cut into quarters and sliced
- 1 red pepper, seeded and diced
- ¼ cup sweet red onion, diced
- 1 or 2 avocados, sliced
- 1 tablespoon lime juice
- 1 large navel orange, zested and cut into supremes and any remaining juice squeezed
- ½ cup cherry tomatoes, quarter any larger ones
- 1 cup vegan mayonnaise
- ¼ cup apple cider vinegar
- 4 tablespoons sugar
- 1 teaspoon dried dill
- Salt and pepper, to taste
- In a small bowl, toss avocado slices gently with lime juice.
- In a large bowl combine penne, cucumber, red pepper, red onion, avocado slices, tomatoes and orange supremes. Squeeze out the remaining orange juice. Add in orange zest.
- In a small bowl, whisk vegan mayonnaise, apple cider vinegar, sugar, dill and salt and pepper.
- Pour dressing over the pasta salad and toss gently to combine.
May I ask what brand vegan mayo you used?
Thanks!
Hey Leslie, I typically use Vegenaise by Follow Your Heart. http://followyourheart.com/products/category/vegenaise/
Megan, this looks great! Will probably make it today, thanks!
Have you tried the reduced fat vegenaise yet? I don’t think it tastes any different, just lower cals which is nice.
Oh, and a side note, that gluten free bread recipe I posted the link to a couple weeks ago, not so great after the initial day fresh out of the oven, too much starch I think, gets dry and dusty. :p.
I’ve tried the grapeseed one and the original one only. I enjoy both of those. Good to know that the reduced fat one is good too!
And bummer about the bread. That’s kind of the problem with a lot of gluten free breads. It’s probably a good thing we rarely eat bread anyway so it’s not as disappointing when gluten-free bread doesn’t work out.