Priya’s Pasta Salad
Priya’s Pasta Salad is one of the most flavorful and unique pasta salads you’ll likely ever eat. That’s saying a lot, I know! But read on and I think you’ll see why. Imagine your favorite tender cooked, gluten free pasta. Now coat the pasta in a creamy, vegan sauce that has been seasoned with an intoxicating mix of Indian spices, sweet & nutty cashews and tangy dijon mustard. Then add in lightly seasoned roasted beets, bell pepper, onion and smoky poblano pepper. Finish with fresh cilantro and let your taste buds party like it’s 1999. Seriously! I hope you try this and let me know what you think… I am waiting on pins and needles to read your comments!
Dad’s Special Spice Mix (My Back Story)
My daughter introduced me to Dad’s Special Spice Mix after seeing it on TikTok. We ordered a small package of it from Etsy and she finished the whole thing in about a week. She put it on avocado toast and potatoes daily and kept raving about how wonderful it was. I didn’t try it right away because I wasn’t sure if it was gluten free, but I was so curious about it that I had to find out for sure.
I messaged Priya (who makes the spice mix) to see if it is gluten free and safe for me to have as a celiac. She believed it was. However, just to be sure, she jumped through many hoops including calling manufacturers of some of the questionable ingredients, asking me several questions, deep cleaning tools, using new equipment and most importantly, had it lab tested for the best sense of security. It all checked out to be free of gluten! Whoo hoo! She even sent me a copy of the lab results! Talk about customer service and being a good human!
I bought several more bags of Dad’s Special Spice Mix and am now equally as obsessed with it as my daughter is. The complexity of the spice blend is incredible. As my daughter said, “It’s like having all of your favorite Indian spices together at once… in a really, really, good way!” Not to bury the lead, but fantastic news …. It is now available on Amazon! Without Dad’s Special Spice Mix, this amazing dish wouldn’t have been made. And this is why I named it “Priya’s Pasta Salad.” Thank you to Priya and her dad!
Prep for Priya’s Pasta Salad
The base of the creamy vegan sauce is made with Cashew Cream. It is super easy to make, only two ingredients and a little advance preparation. In order to get the cashews soft and creamy, they need to be soaked first. I like to set them in a bowl, cover them with warm tap water and let them soak for several hours or overnight. Then the soaking water is drained and the cashews are ground in a high speed blender, food processor or smoothie maker until super smooth and light. See the pics below for reference.
The beets, bell pepper, poblano pepper and onion are chopped into bite sized pieces, seasoned lightly with olive oil, salt and pepper. Then popped into the oven to roast until tender and lightly browned. Remove them from the oven and let them cool to room temp.
Cook the pasta (I use Barilla gluten free elbows) until it is barely al dente because it will continue cooking a little even after you take it off the stove. Drain the hot water and shock the pasta with ice cold water to stop the cooking process.
Bring It Together
Combine the Cashew Cream with Dad’s Special Spice Mix, dijon mustard and salt. Next, mix the cashew mixture, roasted veggies and pasta together in a large bowl. Cover and store in the fridge until ready to serve. Top with fresh chopped cilantro when ready to eat.
More Gluten Free Goodness Like This
- Fiesta Salad
- Veggie Feta Pasta Salad
- Garden Fresh Quinoa Salad
- Curried Chicken Salad
- Chicken Sausage & Potato Sheet Pan Dinner
- Chicken & Potatoes in Tomato Masala Sauce
Priya’s Pasta Salad
Ingredients
- 12 oz box of shaped pasta (I use Barilla gluten free elbows)
- 2 cups raw cashews (unsalted, not roasted)
- 6 tbsp Dad's Special Spice Mix (Found on Etsy & Amazon)
- ¼ cup dijon mustard
- ¼ tsp fine sea salt
- 6 medium beets (any variety)
- 1 red bell pepper (large dice)
- 1 purple onion (large dice)
- 1 poblano pepper (large dice)
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- salt and pepper to taste
- 1 handful fresh cilantro (roughly chopped)
- 1 freshly squeezed lime juice for serving
Instructions
- Several hours to a day ahead, soak the raw & unsalted cashews in tap water. Store cover at room temp. To speed up the process, use very warm water. Once the cashews have plumped up and softened, proceed with the recipe.
- Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Line a large sheet pan with foil and generously grease the pan with vegetable or olive oil.
- In a large mixing bowl, combine the peppers, beets and onion. Drizzle with olive oil, salt and pepper. Toss to combine and coat all of the veggies well.
- Spread out the veggies on a very well greased baking sheet. I line my sheet pan with aluminum foil for easy clean up. Bake for approximately 25 minutes or until the veggies are browned a bit and cooked to your liking. Remove from the oven and let cool to room temp.
- Drain the softened cashews and process them in a high speed blender or food processor. Add very small amounts of water to keep the blades moving, but don’t add too much at a time. You will likely use about 1 cup of water total. The goal is to achieve a light and super smooth creamy mixture.
- Add the Dad’s Special Spice Mix, dijon mustard and salt to the cashew cream. Pulse a few times to combine well. Taste and add more mustard if needed. Set aside until the pasta is cooked.
- Boil the pasta until barely al dente, quickly drain and shock with very cold water (even ice water is good) to stop the pasta from overcooking.
- Combine the cashew cream mixture with the room temp roasted veggies and the cool pasta. Enjoy right away or store covered in the fridge until ready to eat. Sprinkle with chopped cilantro & a squeeze of lime juice when ready to serve.
