Veggie Pasta Salad with Thousand Island Dressing

Seriously, let us reflect here for a moment on the horrors of our food industry.

Since I’ve been creating cooler dishes now that the weather’s heating up, my clients love a good veggie-loaded pasta dish. I used to make an oil-based sauce, but I wanted to change things up a bit this season. I of course turned to a creamy cashew based sauce instead, and thought, hey, I’ve never made Thousnd Island dressing before (weirdest name ever for a dressing, BTW).

And so I went, researching some un-vegan recipes to make my own. Almost all of them contaned mayo, ketchup, an assortment of seasonings and pickled relish. Easy enough…SO I THOUGHT.

I didn’t have time to run to Whole Foods, but Hannaford’s is right across the street from me and has a decent organic selection. I browsed the relish jars and was beyond horrified at what I saw. No organic verisons first off. Every single one of the other jars had high fructose corn syrup, yellow and blue dyes, natural flavors and tons of other toxics chemicals. What the f*uck is high fructose corn syrup and colors doing in a simple relish?! I was so grossed out. I couldn’t believe it!

Disgusted, I opted for a jar of organic dill pickles instead and just threw those in the blender. And it turned out SO delicious! This little fiasco was just another testament as to how important it is to make everything yourself and from scratch as often as possible.

Oh, and this pasta salad is amazingggggg. Perfect dish for Memorial Day!

1 box organic fusilli pasta, cooked

1 pint grape tomatoes, halved

1 large zucchini, chopped

2 cups shredded carrots

1 cup sliced black olives

1 cup thawed frozen peas

1 red onion, chopped

1/2 cup fresh chopped parsley

2 tbsp olive oil

1 tsp dried oregano

1 tsp all-purpose seasoning

1 cayenne pepper, minced

Sea salt and black pepper

THOUSAND ISLAND DRESSING

1 cup raw cashews, soaked and drained

3/4 water

2-3 organic dill pickles

1/3 cup organic ketchup

1 clove garlic

1 tbsp olive oil

Sea salt

• In a large skillet over medium heat cook cayenne pepper in 2 tbsp of oil for 2 minutes
• Add onions and cook for 5 minutes
• Add zucchini, oregano, all purpose seasoning, sea salt and black pepper and continue cooking for 5 more minutes, until zucchini is soft, but not mushy!
• Set aside to let cool
• For the dressing, blend all ingredients together in a high speed blender until smooth
• Pour dressing over pasta and stir until well combined
• Mix in zucchini and onions, carrots, peas, olives, tomatoes and parsley and serve!