Few more salad recipes you would love to try…
Corn Pasta Salad Pesto Pasta Salad Creamy Broccoli Crunch Salad Tuna Pasta Salad
The Tahini Cashew-based dressing is a light, creamy, and best possible substitute for mayo. I am sure you will not miss the mayo dressing here. I am not a vegan but I do respect people who have chosen a Vegan Lifestyle. This recipe was an experiment that became successful. Came across the Macaroni Salad recipe while browsing. I had all the ingredients at home except Mayo. So took a little risk and used tahini cashew sauce instead of mayo. The salad was really delicious a with a good balance of flavors. The most common veggies are red onions, red peppers, celery, carrots. You can also add chopped pickles, broccoli, and peas to it. The vegan pasta salad dressing has tahini, cashew, soy milk, dijon mustard, apple cider vinegar in it. It is light, creamy. It is very easy to overcook pasta. Overcooked pasta is a pasta salad is the last thing you would want. Lumpy and sticky pasta is definitely a big no-no. Start with bringing a big pot of water to boil. Season lightly with salt. Seasoning with salt it quite important here. Once the water comes to a boil, add your pasta( in this recipe your macaroni). Cook till al dente. Drain in a colander and run pasta under running tap water. Running under tap water helps to bring down the temperature and stops further cooking. I also drizzle a little EVOO to prevent pasta from sticking. While the pasta is cooling down, prepare the veggies. For the best result, use fresh vegetables. Fresh veggies give that necessary crunch. I have added shredded carrot, chopped onions, celery, and red bell pepper. broccoli also works well. I have blanched the florets before adding. You can easily adjust the dressing as per your preference. Blend tahini, cashew, apple cider vinegar, dijon mustard, sugar, soy milk, salt, and pepper. To adjust the consistency add reserved pasta water while blending. But if you plan to do prepare a day ahead, then it is a bit different. I would recommend not to mix the dressing with the rest of the ingredients and store for more than a few hours. Because the vegetables might turn soggy. You can prep the pasta, veggies, and dressing a day or two ahead. Store pasta and veggies in an airtight container. Store the dressing in a separate container.
