As I’ve mentioned in a few other cheap pasta salad blog posts, like roasted walnut and broccoli pasta salad, tuna pasta salad, and southwest chicken stew, I’ve got an affinity for finding anything I can in the cupboard and  refrigerator and tossing it in some pasta. It’s a great way to make a salad heartier than if you just use lettuce as the base. This time I was inspired by the star-shaped pasta that I found recently and the wasabi paste that’s been sitting in the fridge for a few weeks (okay, months…). So, before heading out for the day with the dogs to a waterfall park about an hour out of San Jose, I put together the following pasta salad.

I hope you enjoy it as much as I did. Feel free to tweak this pasta salad recipe for more or less kick.

WASABI COLD PASTA INGREDIENTS

• 1/2 of a 500 gram bag of small pasta (spirals, stars, orzo, etc)
• 1 Cup of blanched fresh broccoli
• 1/2 of a cucumber, peeled and diced
• 1 red bell pepper, diced
• 1 Cup of frozen peas
• 1 Tbl fresh cilantro
• 1 tsp garlic powder (or 1 clove of minced garlic)
• 1 Tbl wasabi paste
• 1/8 Cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• 1 Tbl Sesame oil

WASABI COLD PASTA DIRECTIONS

1. Bring a medium sauce pan filled half way with water to a boil
2. Stir in pasta and cook to al dente, drain and rinse with cold water
3. In a large mixing bowl, combine all ingredients and stir until well-coated and properly combined
4. Chill combined Wasabi Cold Pasta Salad for an hour and serve.