Chipotle Pasta Salad

Yummy chipotle goodness all in a bowl with pasta, black beans, vegetables and topped with hemp hearts. This bowl has everything your body nutritionally needs and then some.

How to make an amazing chipotle sauce? Here are the instructions:

• 1/2 cup Vegan mayo 
• 1 - 2 chipotle peppers, depending on how spicy you like it.  (I used the canned peppers) 
• 1 - 2 tsp's of sauce from the canned chipotle peppers. Again, all depending on the level of spice you want to achieve. 
• 2 - 3 cloves of roasted garlic (see instructions directly below ingredients list)
• Juice of one lime 
• 1/4 tsp chili powder 
• Dash of salt & pepper 

All of the above items are to be put in a blender to be mixed together. 

**For the roasted garlic preheat oven to 375 F. Slice the top of the garlic head and brush exposed top with olive oil. Bake in a small glass dish with lid for 40 - 45 minutes. It will be finished once you see the tops of the exposed cloves oozing out garlic yumminess. You can also choose to wrap in aluminum foil if you do not have a small glass baking dish with a lid. Take out of oven to cool and peel 2 - 3 cloves. The remaining amount can be stored in the fridge for up to 4 - 5 days.**

For the pasta, I used flaxseed fusilli pasta; however you can choose to use whichever pasta you would like. If you do not have fusilli, I recommend either penne, farfalle or macaroni. To cook, boil water with a dash of salt in it and once water is boiled put in desired amount of pasta. For length of cooking time refer to instructions on the pasta package. 

As for the vegetables, these are the ones that I used in my pasta salad: 

• Chopped kale (make sure to massage the kale with a bit of freshly squeezed lime as it will soften the leaves) 
• Chopped broccoli
• Diced tomatoes 
• Diced cucumber slices 
• 1/4 - 1/4 diced avocado 

As for the beans, I used 1/2 cup of black beans. 

Final step once pasta is done is to rinse with cold water to get it ready to be all mixed up in the goodness of all the other ingredients. Place pasta, veggies & black beans in bowl to toss with 2 - 3 TBSP of the chipotle mayo. Once all ingredients are mixed place in bowl and top with hemp seeds. 

The chipotle mayo makes approximately 4 - 6 servings. 

Enjoy your pasta salad!!