I thought I would squeeze in a 4th of July recipe this morning! Here is a gluten free pasta salad that is packed with summertime garden goodness, contains all the comfort and zesty flavors of the holiday, but won’t leave your body starving for awesome nutrition. I named it “L.A. Summer” because it contains all the stuff that you might find growing in one of L.A.’s back yards or urban farms, like nopales, cucumber, tomatoes, and peppers, and it has some hints of Mexico and the Southwest in it’s flavor profile, two prominent cuisines in the area. Enjoy, and happy Independence Day!

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black bean rotini salad

1/ 12-oz. bag of black bean rotini pasta
2 average sized vine ripened tomatoes, diced
1 Japanese or equivalent cucumber, scored and diced
2 cups Prepared Nopalitos
1 red, yellow, or orange bell pepper, seeded and diced
2 ears of corn, not yet shucked
1/2  cup loosely chopped cilantro
1/4 cup nutritional yeast
1/4 cup hulled hempseed
1/2 cup vegan or regular mayonnaise
1 tbsp. chipotle chile en adobo, chopped into a paste
1 tsp. cumin
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 fresh lime, juiced
Sea salt and pepper to taste
More fresh cilantro for garnish

Cook the pasta per manufacturer’s instructions. Be sure to cool it off immediately, as the black bean pasta tends to get mushy if you let it sit warm for too long. Set aside. Roast your corn, in the husks, over a bbq, gas grill, or the flame of your stovetop range. Husks will become black and corn will have roasted inside when it is ready. Let cool and then clean the husk and shuck the corn from the cob by standing it on its end and cutting the corn away with a knife until all the corn is removed. Put the cooled pasta, corn, nopalitos, all the diced-cut up vegetables, cilantro, nutritional yeast and hempseed in a large mixing bowl, and set entire mixture aside.

Make the dressing by mixing the mayonnaise, chipotle en adobo, cumin, garlic and lime juice in a small mixing bowl. Blend the dressing into the salad and mix well. Taste for salt and pepper. Serve immediately or refrigerate for later. Garnish with fresh cilantro.

NOTE: If you don’t have access to nopalitos try adding some grilled zucchini, asparagus, or any other green fresh vegetable.