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Hot Pepper Pasta Salad with Roasted Corn and Cilantro

 

Hot Pepper Pasta Salad with Roasted Corn and Cilantro

We had this for lunch today. Then I had some more as a between-meals snack. I’m thinking about heating the rest up for dinner.

It’s crazy that it’s so good, because it uses only a handful of ingredients, and it’s done in about the time it takes to boil pasta.

It’s made with Dreamfields Pasta, which may or may not matter, except that it’s sort of a little less carby than ordinary pasta and it’s supposed to fill you up better. It tastes as good as traditional pasta, which is all I care about. I’ve tried about 20 kinds of whole wheat pasta and I hate them all. Hate. And not in that butting-heads, surface-annoyance-characterized-by-mutual-respect way that hate is sometimes portrayed among dueling law associates on Netflix. Real hate. Like when you go to put a load of wet laundry in the dryer and find the last forgotten load still squatting in there, damp and smelly, and you have to do double laundry for no reason. You know what I just realized? I’ve been hanging around the house too much lately.

The idea to try Dreamfields came from the same place as the idea to make this pasta salad: from this recipe on Kitchen Play. I didn’t change much about the Kitchen Play recipe. Didn’t need to. It was already fresh, flavorful, and simple. I just used elbows instead of rotini. I also added a roasted poblano pepper, because I was curious about how it would taste (great) and I was already going to the trouble of roasting a jalapeno anyway. Oh, right, and I roasted the peppers and corn under the broiler instead of sauteing them in oil. Can’t beat fresh roasted peppers and corn. Now it’s my favorite summer pasta dish of the moment.

If you’ll excuse me, I’m going to grab some of this tasty pasta salad for dinner and see what else is on Netflix.

Hot Pepper Pasta Salad with Roasted Corn and Cilantro

  • 1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
  • 1 tsp chopped fresh cilantro (approximately)
  • 1 pound elbow macaroni
  • 2 ears sweet corn, husked and cleaned
  • 1 poblano pepper
  • 1 jalapeno pepper
  • Salt and pepper to taste
  1. Combine oil and cilantro in a small bowl and set aside.
  2. Cook macaroni according to package directions.
  3. Meanwhile, raise oven rack to highest position, ideally no more than 4–5″ from broiler. Set broiler to high.
  4. Remove the stems from the peppers and slice the peppers lengthwise. Place pepper halves cut-side-down on a sheet of aluminum foil, along with both ears of corn, and place on oven rack under broiler. Keep an eye on the peppers: when the skin begins to brown and bubble, they’re done, and need to be taken out. They may take less than five minutes, but the corn will take longer (as much as 10–15 minutes), and will need to be turned several times. The goal is to get some kernels on every side of the ear of corn to roast to a dark brown.
  5. When the peppers and corn are cool enough to touch, slice the poblano into thin strips. Chop the jalapeno into very small pieces. Cut the kernels off both ears of corn.
  6. Toss all ingredients together and add salt and pepper to taste. This dish can be served at any temperature (which makes it perfect for potluck).

Kristina Ackerman

Kristina Ackerman is a busy freelance web designer, living and DIYing with her fella and their little fella in a cute old house in Atlanta, GA, USA.

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