I’ve been on a salad kick lately and love finding summer salads I can add to my healthy recipes index! This Santa Fe Pasta Salad in particular is so yummy and versatile and has a delicious southwestern flavor dressing.

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Healthy Recipes: Santa Fe Pasta Salad

This salad is sentimental for me because my mom used to make it all the time before she succumbed to a glioblastoma brain tumor. I like to have some carbs in my salads so I added pasta, but you can totally make this without pasta if you wish! The original recipe I got this from years ago called for romaine lettuce, which is also filling and full of vitamins.

Santa Fe Pasta Salad

Ingredients

6 tbsp mayonnaise
3 tbsp cilantro
3 tbsp water
1 medium scallion minced
1 tbsp lime juice
1 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp chili powder
1/2 can black beans rinsed and drained, or dry beans, soaked and boiled
1 cup corn kernels fresh or frozen
1 cup baby spinach diced
2 cups grape tomatoes but can use diced fresh tomato
1 medium sweet red pepper diced
6 oz spiral pasta

Instructions

To make the dressing, whisk mayonnaise, cilantro, water, scallion, lime juice, sugar and chili powder together in a small bowl until smooth. Transfer to a container and refrigerate until ready to use.
In a large bowl, layer the remaining ingredients in the order listed. Cover and refrigerate.
Recipe Notes
Storing this salad in layers without the dressing keeps it fresh for up to 4 days.
To serve, mix salad in bowl and drizzle dressing on top and shake to mix. Yields 1 1/2 tbsp dressing per 2 cups salad.

Check out my other healthy salad recipes here!

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