summer dill pasta salad

I think the heat broke a little bit. It's at least 3 degrees cooler than it was before. I'm thankful for the little things. I'm also thankful for this salad. Sure, I know what you're thinking. It's pasta salad, big whoop. Normally I steer clear of pasta salads on buffet tables since they're usually laden with gloopy mayonnaise or bottled Italian dressing. No thank you. But this salad, this pasta salad, is perfect.


I attribute the perfectness of this salad to the fresh dill snipped from my garden. There's enough of it to pack quite a punch and along with the fresh cucumbers and tomatoes, it makes for a delicious summer meal. Something easy enough to pack on a picnic or whip up for a quick weekday lunch. Leave it vegan or top it with some feta cheese, either way, it's delicious.

On my last post I mentioned that I'd be away on holiday. My husband and I are flying off to Montreal, renting a car and driving around New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island to camp, road-trip, couch-surf, and experience the lovely Maritimes. Got any tips for us? Leave a comment with any recommendations, as they'd be very much appreciated!

summer dill pasta salad
250 g gemelli pasta (or other short pasta shape)
1 heirloom tomato, chopped
1/2 cucumber, julienned
1 carrot, jullenned
1/4 walla wall onion, sliced thinly
1/4 c chopped fresh dill
2 T goat cheese feta

vinaigrette
1/2 lemon
1 T cider vinegar
1/4 c olive oil
1 fat clove of garlic, minced
1/2 t agave syrup
salt & pepper

Cook pasta in salted water until cooked al dente. Cool under running water and drain well. Add the pasta into a large bowl along with the other salad ingredients. Add dressing ingredients to a jar and shake. Pour over salad and toss well. Sprinkle with feta and serve.

dill, red onion & cheese drop biscuits

There are a few dishes that I make over and over again. The ones requiring a recipe are taped to the side of my fridge. The list includes bannock, Molly's scones, chocolate chip oatmeal cookies and now there's this biscuit. I originally spotted the recipe on Bread & Honey and since then, I've made it countless times, always varying ingredients and so far, I've never been led astray. And it's versatile....it was a vegan recipe from the book How It All Vegan!that can be easily tweaked for dairy (like I have done below). They're good, easy and perfect as a side with soup or delicious spit open and topped with a poached egg.

dill, red onion & cheese drop biscuits
(adapted from Bread & Honey)
2 cs flour
2 t baking powder
1/2 t salt
1/4 c red onions, finely diced
1 T dried dill
a hearty grind of black pepper
a large handful of old cheddar cheese
2 T vegetable oil
1 c buttermilk or milk with 1 T vinegar or yogurt with a bit of milk mixed in

Preheat oven to 450F. In a large bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, salt, red onions, dill, black pepper and cheese. Stir in the milk and oil and mix lightly until combined. Using a tablespoon, drop blobs of dough on a parchment covered or silpat lined cookie sheet. Bake for 12 - 14 minutes or until lightly golden. Makes about 6 - 9 biscuits.

2 kinds of summer salads? Yes please!

Summer long weekends are the definition of perfection. With all the barbeques, picnics and friendly get-togethers, it's a perfect time for sharing food. We had our own little Canada Day celebration over the weekend and food (and beer) definitely played a large part of the fun. I whipped up this super quick and tasty potato salad for our bbq and it was pretty much gone by the end of the night.

creamy red, white and green potato salad
8 baby new potatoes
1 bunch radishes, sliced
1/2 english cucumber, quartered into chunks
1 bunch parsley, snipped
1 bunch dill, snipped
zest of 1 lemon
2 large dollops* mayo
1 large dollop* sour cream
salt & pepper

1. Boil the potatoes in their skins until tender. Cool and cut in half or quarters.

2. In a large bowl, gently mix together the potatoes, radishes, cucumbers, parsley, dill and lemon zest. In a seperate bowl, whip together the mayo and sour cream and pour over vegetables. Toss and season with salt and pepper. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour and serve.

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This afternoon I felt like eating salad for lunch and then I spied this tasty looking gem of a recipe over at Simply Recipes. I made a few additions/substitutions and came up with my own version of a tasty asian slaw. I usually don't like going with a mayo dressing, but I did like combining the creaminess the mayo with the rest of the dressing ingredients. It was super delicious and Cornelius and I ate it all up until there was nothing left in the bowl. It was seriously that good.

creamy asian slaw
1/2 head of purple cabbage, shredded
4 green onions, diced
1/2 red pepper, diced
1 bunch radishes, sliced
2 stalks celery, diced
2 T toasted sunflower seeds
2 T toasted almond slices
2 T dried cranberries
Dressing:
2 dollops* mayo
2 T cider vinegar
2 T soy sauce
1 t sugar
1 t freshly grated ginger
a few shakes of toasted sesame oil
a few shakes of sirracha or the hot sauce of your choice

Toss together the first 5 ingredients in a large bowl. Set aside. Whisk together the dressing and pour over salad. Add almonds, cranberries and sunflower seeds and toss to combine. Serve.

Looking for more summer salads? Look no further than some of my favorite archived recipes:
Colourful Chopped Vegetable Salad
Incredible Lemony Potato Salad
Light n' Creamy Potato Salad
Mexican Black Bean & Tortilla Salad
Peanutty Coleslaw
Potato & Sausage Salad
Roasted Tomato Pasta Salad
Red, White & Green Barley Salad

* hmmmm, dollop...a heaping teaspoon or tablespoon. you can be the judge...more dressing or less. it's up to you!

finally, an STD you can get excited about

Yes, I said it and I did it. I made an S.T.D. sandwich and it's fan-freakin'-tastic. Before you get your panties all tied in a knot, I'm talking Salmon Tomato Dill here and it's the perfect lunch for this holiday weekend. The other day I mentioned barbequeing some salmon and we got a few leftovers out of it. Yesterday's lunch was a salmon-cream cheese-dill egg scramble and today I made this with the remaining bits. I served it up with some homemade lemon iced tea and some cheezie poofs.

s.t.d. (salmon - tomato - dill) sandwich
4 slices of your favorite bread
Leftover salmon
1 tomato, cut into thick slices
1/2 c fresh dill, snipped
cream cheese
fleur du sel & pepper

Toast bread. Spread cream cheese on both sides and generously sprinkle dill over top. Add a couple of tomato slices to one slice of toast and sprinkle with salt & pepper. Pile on the flaked salmon and then top with the remaining toast. Makes 2 sandwiches.