Favourite summer pasta salads and hot weather recipes

I made this last night with some left over basmati..
 http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Sweet-Corn-and-Basmati-Rice-Salad-103494

I put in a bit of red pepper for color and mixed in with assorted salad greens instead of water cress.

This thread has done the trick - we've been more inspired here.

Last night we had a cold chicken peanut and soba noodle salad and this week we're planning on trying BLT pasta salad and a salmon and pea salad.

Yum!

Oh .... what did you do with the peanut soba one?

So many awesome ideas!   I'm planning to try out the Mozzarella/Tomato/Basil/Olives one mentioned by pkmac for a gathering this weekend, and bought quinoa last night to try, too!

C, do you have recipes for the BLT and salmon & pea salads??

I made an epic one tonight, the bf ate three bowls!

Sarah's Epic Pasta Salad
Creamy Italian Dressing (olive oil, red wine vinegar, mustard, mayo, a bit of sour cream, herbs, balsamic vinegar, lemon juice, s&p)
Pasta cooked (I used Fusilli)
Roasted Broccoli (hot oven, olive oil, lemon, s&p)
Roasted Corn (same as above)
Red Pepper
Yellow Pepper
Red Onion
Gruyere
Shredded Carrot
Green Onion
Tomatoes
All mixed together.  Yummy.

Here's another favourite quinoa: Quinoa Salad with Dried Apricots and Baby Spinach.

I think we're going to have bruschetta tonight: mix together a can of white beans, a bunch of chopped tomatoes, shredded basil, a bit of olive oil and a splash of balsamic vinegar, salt and pepper. Let that marinate for a while. Toast slices of French bread and rub with a garlic clove (it sort of melts - fun!). Pile bean mixture on top and devour.

i like this:

can of kidney beans
chopped cucumber
chupped celery
chopped green pepper
chopped pickled beetroot
couple glogs of kraft fat-free thousand island dressing
handful of croutons
sprinkle of crispy salad onions

cottage cheese salad.........a large container of small or large curd
                                      green onions chopped
                                      green olives chopped
                                      salt and pepper
                                      serve in a hollowed out tomato
                                      top with paprika

egg salad with black olives..make your favorite egg salad and add black or green olives
                                     serve on any type of bread

I posted this elsewhere but a friend made a salad of chopped avocado, yellow corn, black beans, and shredded purple cabbage. You could leave out the cabbage if that ain't your thing. You could also add red onion and chopped and de-seeded tomato.

I make one similar to this (but no cabbage    ) which is lovely served with corn chips!

Southwestern Style Salad
Serves 2
 
2 sweetcorns
400g can black beans, drained and rinsed (I couldn't get black beans so substituted a combination of butter beans and kidney beans. Black beans would be better, though)
1 avocado, cut into chunks
200g cherry tomatoes, halved
4 spring onions, roughly chopped
100g cheese, crumbled or grated
lime wedges to serve (optional)
 
For the dressing:
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tbsp chipotle Tabasco (use regular Tabasco if you can't find chipotle)
Juice and zest of 2 limes
1 tbsp sherry vinegar
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
 
Boil the corn for 10 minutes in salted water, rinse in cold water, then cut the kernels off. Tip the beans into a bowl with the cooked corn, avocado, tomatoes and spring onions.
 
Mix the dressing ingredients with salt and pepper, then pour over the salad. Toss together well, scatter the cheese over the top and serve with lime wedges, if using.

speaking of advocados.....i had this at someones home recently......yummy

several advocados.....chopped
onions.......chopped
tomatoes........chopped
mozzerallo cheese.......bite size pieces
add anything else you may like......olives, bell peppers, etc

top with balsamic vinegar.....cover and let sit for a while
i actually added a bit of olive oil to mine