Creamy Pasta Salad with Cherry and Olives

Creamy Pasta Salad with Cherry and Olives

I love warm food, even gorgeous, smoking hot food like sizzlers; but it's summer time and need of the hour is forcing love to take a step back. Now, I am all for icecreams, desserts and smoothies but what I was really looking for was a 'food that filled'. Hence, this pasta salad. Pasta salads are a great way to have a filling meal and serve as lovely picnic entrees or a cozy lunch or dinner and are great on salad bars as party food. Since these salads incorporate beautiful, vibrant veggies and fruits with dressings of your choice, the creative possibilities are endless. Although, pasta salads can be had year round, to me they scream "summers"!

In this post, I am presenting a recipe for yogurt based creamy pasta salad complemented with fresh cherries and black olives.
Yes, I hear you. I too love mayo but in this dressing mayo is used as a flavor enhancer. The juicy crunch of pomegranate seeds and carrot shavings made me forget that I wanted to add icebergs in this salad in the first place, which I did not have in hand.  That's the best thing about these salads; with a little thought, you throw in almost anything you have available and they rarely go wrong.

Here's to an awesome comfort food for summers! Cheers!


Ingredients:

Farfelle (or any pasta of your choice)- 200 gm
Greek yogurt- 250 gm
Mayonnaise- 2 tbsp
Black olives, pitted and sliced- 1/2 cup
Fresh cherries, pitted- 1 cup
Pomegranate seeds- 1/2 cup
Carrot shavings- 1 cup
Sugar- 1 tbsp
Salt and pepper to taste

Recipe:

Cook pasta according to package instructions. Drain and keep aside to cool.

In a salad bowl, whisk together yogurt, mayonnaise, sugar, salt and pepper till uniform and creamy.

Toss in pasta, olives, cherries, pomegranate seeds and carrot shavings. Mix well to coat.

Cover and refrigerate for an hour.

Serve and enjoy your meal.