Who wants to spend time in the kitchen cooking when you can be outside enjoying these beautiful summer evenings? Here’s a new, tasty version of a zucchini “pasta” salad that you can make in about 20 minutes. Use a spiralizer or a julienne tool to turn the zucchini into pasta that doesn’t require cooking and comes with a lot more vitamins C and B-6, potassium and magnesium than traditional pasta!
I cooked the corn to give it added sweetness but you can easily toss it in as it is. Spices like cumin and chili powder add a nice punch and work well with the lime-avocado dressing. Add garbanzo beans to make this salad a complete meal. Enjoy!
Ingredients
For The Salad
2 zucchini, spiralized
1/2 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
2/3 cup cooked corn, fresh is best
4-5 very thin red onion slices
1-2 stalks celery, chopped
1/4 teaspoon salt or more as needed
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1/4 teaspoon chili powder for the corn + 1/4 teaspoon for the salad
1 can garbanzo beans, rinsed and drained
1/4 cup cilantro leaves, chopped for garnish
For The Dressing
1 avocado
Juice of 1 lime
1 small clove garlic
1/4 teaspoon salt
Pinch cayenne pepper
2 teaspoons cilantro leaves
2 teaspoons olive oil
Directions
Put zucchini noodles in a large bowl. Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in a skillet over medium-high heat (but not smoking). Add the corn, cumin and 1/4 teaspoon chili powder and cook, stirring occasionally, 10-12 minutes or until the corn starts to brown. Remove from heat and set aside in a small bowl to cool. Alternately toss corn with cumin and chili powder without cooking.
Combine the tomatoes, onions, celery, beans and cooled corn with the zucchini noodles in the bowl. Season with salt, pepper, remaining 1/4 teaspoon chili powder and cilantro. Toss to combine.
Add all the dressing ingredients to a Vitamix or powerful blender and process until well blended into a smooth dressing. Divide the zucchini salad between plates and top with a dollop of the avocado dressing. Mix well and add additional dressing if desired.