salad recipes? bean or pasta

[caboverpete]

Im looking for a really good bean or pasta salad recipe for a dinner party this weekend. Any suggestions?

[narlus]

i like this one, simple and tasty:

take some white beans, drain and rinse
toast some cumin seeds in a dry pan, cool, and grind
chop some red onion or shallot
chop some parsley
add everything together, along w/ some EVOO and toss to coat.

add S&P to taste.

serve.

[narlus]

i forgot one essential ingredient...freshly squeezed lemon juice.

and you can also add some coriander seeds to the cumin if you want.

[OGRipper]

^^^That sounds dang tasty. You describe amounts like me: "some" of this or that. :thumb:

If you prefer pasta, try a basic tortellini pesto salad with pine nuts, red onion, and parm. I prefer to make the pesto myself but pre-made would work fine for something like this.

Here is a link to a crapload of recipes, should give you some ideas:

http://www.cooksrecipes.com/salads/pasta-salads.html

[narlus]

homemade pesto rocks... a friend recommended trying pecans instead of walnuts or pignolis and it's very tasty.