Last week I got a last minute shout out to celebrate a friend’s birthday on her beautiful screened porch. It was going to be a wonderfully warm evening so decided I should whip up a quick pasta salad. Since I always have peas in my freezer, pasta in my pantry and usually at least one fresh vegetable in my fridge, here is what I made with a bag of linguine,  10 oz. frozen peas, 1 cucumber, 1/2 cup sliced almonds and 1/2 cup salad dressing. It works equally well with Al Dente Fettuccine or new Al Dente Gluten Free Pasta! Since it was such a crowd-pleaser, decided I would do a repeat for Memorial Day. This time I will use a lemon/oil dressing and add lots of fresh mint. I can just tell that it will be delicious as mint, cucumber, lemon and olive oil is a divine combination!

Place frozen peas and sliced cucumber in colander.

 While bringing pasta water to a boil, salt the cucumbers. Place a plate over the veggies to sweat the cucumbers.

Cook the pasta for 3 minutes in boiling water. Drain over the cucumber and peas.

Toss pasta, peas and cucumber with 1/2 cup salad dressing. I used an Asian-Style Lemon Ginger Vinaigrette. Garnish with Toasted Almonds.

I count on my friends to let me know which of my pasta concoctions are true winners and warrant a bonified blog post. Well…..this is definitely a current fave. I got a last minute shout out to celebrate a friend’s birthday on Lisa Marra’s Porch. Well, I always have peas in my freezer. I always have pasta in my pantry. And, I usually have one fresh vegetable in my fridge. Here is what I did with a bag of our new BonaChia Linguine, 10 oz. frozen peas, 1 cucumber, 1/2 cup sliced almonds and 1/2 cup salad dressing.

Place frozen peas and sliced cucumber in colander.

 While bringing pasta water to a boil, salt the cucumbers. Place a plate over the veggies to sweat the cucumbers.

Cook the pasta for 3 minutes in boiling water. Drain over the cucumber and peas.

Toss pasta, peas and cucumber with 1/2 cup salad dressing. I used an Asian-Style Lemon Ginger Vinaigrette. Garnish with Toasted Almonds.

Enjoy with Friends and Eat in Good Health

Tell us what you think of this recipe on facebook and you will be automatically entered into our 3 for Free Drawing. We do a drawing on the 3rd of every month and this drawing will be for our new BonaChia Pastas.  Most Whole Foods around the country now carry our new BonaChia Pastas. I suggest you call your local store to see whether they have it on their shelves. Then let us know for extra good pasta karma!