Cold or Hot Fall Pasta Salad
Author: 
Recipe type: Entree or Side
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 
Serves: 8-10 servings
 
Ingredients
  • 1 bag 16 oz. whole wheat fusilli pasta
  • 3 C green beans
  • 1 butternut squash, peeled, pitted, and cubed
  • 2 tbs olive or coconut oil
  • ⅛ Salt
  • ⅛ tsp pepper
  • ½ C slivered almonds
  • ½ C dried cranberries
  • For the Sauce:
  • 1 can chickpeas, rinsed and drained
  • ½ C vegenaise
  • 2 tbs white Miso paste (optional)
  • ¼ C sunflower or olive oil
  • ½ C water
  • 1 ½ tsp salt-possibly more if you don’t use the miso paste
  • ¼ tsp cumin
  • ¼ tsp coriander
Instructions
  1. Turn oven to 380 degrees. Place cubed butternut squash in a large mixing bowl and add 2 tbs olive oil and salt and pepper. Toss until squash is evenly coated.
  2. Spread butternut squash onto a cookie sheet and place in oven for 30 minutes.
  3. While squash is cooking, boil fresh cut green beans in sauce pan with salted water for 15 minutes. Drain and set aside to cool as well.
  4. Boil fusilli pasta as directed. Again, set aside to cool.
  5. After the butternut squash has been in the oven for 30 minutes, increase oven to 425 and cook for 10 more minutes. Pull out of oven and set aside to let cool.
  6. As you wait on everything to cool off. Add all of the sauce ingredients except the ½ c water to a blender. You want a consistency of a standard smoothie. Not so thick you couldn’t slurp it through a straw but not so thin that it is like water. Slowly add the water until you reach this consistency. If you use up all the water and it is still too thick, I recommend adding a few splashes of nondairy milk until you get the right texture. Adding too much water may take away from the richness of the sauce.
  7. Now, taste the sauce. You want it to be a little bit more salty than you prefer. Since the sauce is spread out over all the ingredients it will balance out. If it needs more salt, either add more miso paste or a few more dashes of salt itself.
  8. Once your ingredients are all cool and your sauce is taste test approved, mix everything together in a mixing bowl. Place in a serving dish and put in the fridge until cooled through, at least an hour.
  9. Hot Option: If you choose to make this warm, do not wait for all of your ingredients to cool. Make the sauce while the squash is cooking, but after you boil your green beans and fusilli pasta. Mix ingredients together while still hot (carefully) then add to a casserole dish and place in oven at 350 degrees for 15 minutes or until fully heated through. Serve immediately.
Recipe by Peppers and Peaches at https://www.peppersandpeaches.com/cold-or-hot-fall-pasta-salad/