Spicy Pasta Salad

So last night I was racking my brain trying to decide what to eat with our blackened fish and I stumbled upon a recipe for spicy pasta salad. So I thought why not. I asked Alex and all he asked was that I not use orzo pasta like the recipe called for. So I used ditalini instead. For those who are not familiar with it, it is a tubular pasta with a hole in the middle. Resembles a tiny donut. I use it a lot in my Italian Wedding Soup.

Recipe:
1/2 box small pasta
1 can whole kernel corn, preferably no salt added, drained
12 cherry tomatoes, quartered
3 green onions, sliced
1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
1/4c buttermilk
3T fresh chopped cilantro
3T lime juice
2T sour cream
2T mayo
1t chili powder
1/2t salt
1/4t black pepper
1/4t cayenne
2 cloves garlic, minced

Cook pasta according to directions. Drain. Place pasta, corn, tomatoes, green onions, and black beans in a large bowl. Toss.

Combine buttermilk, 2T cilantro, lime juice, sour cream, mayo, chili powder, salt, pepper, cayenne, and garlic in a small bowl. Stir well with a whisk. Drizzle over pasta mixture. Top with remaining cilantro.

It wasn't all that spicy after mixing it together. But then again I didnt have chili powder in my cabinet and I improvised. But since we ate the pasta salad with a blackened mahi mahi, the spice off the fish got onto the edges of the salad and made it delicious. So I aboslutely recommend making your pasta salad spicy. I think I am going to make this for some family members one day. It has a feel of a southwestern dish. Mostly because of the corn and black beans.

I did eat some leftover for lunch today and while I did not like it cold, I did not heat it up. I put some on a plate and microwaved it for about 15 seconds. This got the cold chill off of it from the fridge without making it hot. And I like it that way. And this is a nice thing to make when you want to try something a little different from your normal pasta salads. Hope yall enjoy it!! (PS....Dad you will be trying this very soon!!)