recipe: summer picnic pasta salad

When the weather gets warm, I loooooove eating pasta salad. It's cool, crunchy, and reminds me of ...being by the pool. I don't know why, but I feel like we always had pasta salad or cucumber-tomato salad by the pool.Pasta salad, believe it or not, is one of the easiest things to make healthy. Here's what I did:

1. Made a more even ratio of vegetables to pasta.
2. Made it into an optional full meal (AKA it doesn't just have to be a carb-heavy side dish if you amp the protein and fat!) (AKA if everything else at the BBQ sucks and you brought this salad -key!- you can eat this, and this alone, and feel satisfied.)
3. Made a flavorful dressing.
4. Changed the pasta out for something gluten-free.
5. Kept it easy.

INGREDIENTS

The dressing:

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 cup fresh basil leaves
• 1 teaspoon fresh oregano (optional)
• 1 tablespoons pure maple syrup or raw honey
• 1 cup avocado
• salt and pepper to taste

The rest:

• 4 cups brown rice pasta of choice
• 2 roma tomatoes, small dice
• 1/4 cup onion, small dice
• 1 cup celery (Did I mention I like mine crunchy?), small dice
• 4-8 tablespoons hemp seeds (The more the better.)

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Cook pasta (I like mine al dente) and allow to cool.
2. Add all dressing ingredients to a blender and blend until smooth.
3. Add cooled pasta, dressing, and remaining ingredients to a large bowl and toss to combine.
4. Bring to your next BBQ and enjoy!