Rainbow Pasta Salad & Steamed Sweet Potatoes w/ Tequilla Lime Salsa

Summer is hot.

At our house, we have no A/C. No use in creating more heat than necessary.

Here's a quick-n-easy dinner, I developed out of my need to stop the madness and not add any more heat to my kitchen.

Fresh, flavorful, and best of all, no oven required!

Eat the salad alone, as-is, or pair with steamed sweet potatoes(see below), for a heartier meal.

Rainbow Pasta Salad

GF, SF, LF

Serves 10-12

You can use wheat pasta, but then the dish wouldn't be gluten-free, but if you don't care about that, I don't care. I used a spiralizer (fancy kitchen gadget, big with raw food chefs) to make the zucchini look like so. The secret ingredient is the fresh, raw corn, simply cut off the cob. Serve this salad to guests and inevitably they'll compliment you on the delicious corn. "What did you do to it?" they will ask, and you will reply, "Absolutely nothing."

Colorful and full of variety, this salad will make you want to get up and dance.

Ingredients:

• 1 can or 2 c. kidney beans
• 1 can or 2 c. chickpeas (garbanzo beans)
• 1 can artichoke hearts in water (not oil)
• 2 cobs of sweet corn, cut off the cob
• 4 carrots, shredded (I put mine in the food processor)
• 2 c. shredded purple cabbage
• 1 bell pepper, diced
• 1/2 red onion, diced
• 2 zucchini, spiralized (or cut into discs)
• 3 c. cooked pasta shells (use brown rice pasta for gluten-free)
• 1/2 c. basil and/or parsley, chop
• 1 c. oil-free italian dressing
• sea salt & freshly ground pepper, to taste

To assemble:
Rinse beans. Cut up artichoke hearts. Combine all ingredients and toss gently. Allow to refrigerate for 2-3 hours for enhanced flavor.

Steamed Sweet Potatoes w/ Tequilla Lime Salsa

GF, LF, SF

The dish below requires no recipe, my favorite!

Simply steam some sweet potatoes (I did so in my rice cooker which does such things as steam veggies), top with tequilla lime salsa, and pair with some coleslaw (I did a simple shredded purple cabbage slaw).

3 ingredients + 15 minutes=delish dish