Friday, September 25, 2009

creamy dill pasta salad

i have never found a store-bought vegan ranch that i like, so i have taken to the habit of making my own. there are plenty of recipes you can google - i just use a pretty typical combo of mayonnaise, red wine vinegar and spices. one day i was mixing up a batch and was feeling a little dilly, and it put me in mind of a creamy dill pasta dish. this is super easy to make, and perfect for potlucks and parties. and because it's so creamy, it doesn't make a big production of being vegan.


  • 12 oz. uncooked macaroni noodles
  • 10-12 cherry tomatoes, halved
  • 1/2 medium cucumber, diced
  • 1/2 tablespoon olive oil
  • 6 oz. of vegan mayonnaise
  • 1 ¼ tablespoons red wine vinegar
  • 1/2 teaspoon lemon juice
  • 1 teaspoon soy milk
  • 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon parsley
  • 1/4 teaspoon dried dill
  • 1 ¼ tablespoons pickle juice
boil the macaroni noodles according to package directions. while noodles are cooking, halve your cherry tomatoes and dice your cucumber. once the noodles are done cooking, drain and rinse with cold water. pour into a large bowl, and add the olive oil. this will help keep the noodles from sticking together and prevent them from sucking up all the dressing. toss in the tomatoes and cucumber with the noodles.

to mix the dressing, you can use a magic bullet or blender, or you can whisk by hand in a jar. combine the dressing ingredients (mayonnaise through pickle juice) and blend/whisk together. i prefer to use nasoysa nayonaise, but feel free to substitute you favourite vegan mayo. after it's mixed, test the dill flavour. sometimes i add more pickle juice - remember that the flavour will mellow a bit once combined with the noodles. if the dressing is too thick, add a little more soymilk or lemon juice, but be sure and rest test for the dill quality.

add half of the dressing with the noodles, cover and refrigerate for at least an hour. also chill the remaining dressing. during this time, the noodles will suck up a lot of the dressing so only adding half the dressing at first will yield a creamier result. before serving, add in the rest of the dressing and toss.

12 comments:

Lauren said...

Oh yum! I love pasta salad! :) Mmm this looks great!

Tami said...

I love dill in ranch style dressing- this is awesome!

Alyssa said...

looks delicious! i love pasta salad!

iRaw said...

Oooo this sounds good!

jessy said...

i haven't had ranch dressing since my omni days because i'm a bit afraid i'll be disappointed with the bottled vegan ranch dressings. but from the sound of this recipe i won't be disappointed if i make yours! your creamy dill pasta salad looks delicious, miss v.! pasta salad is one of my all time favorite dishes - i'd never thought to add in tomatoes & cucumbers! mmmmmmmmmmmm! what tasty idea. yay!

jessy said...

i haven't had ranch dressing since my omni days because i'm a bit afraid i'll be disappointed with the bottled vegan ranch dressings. but from the sound of this recipe i won't be disappointed if i make yours! your creamy dill pasta salad looks delicious, miss v.! pasta salad is one of my all time favorite dishes - i'd never thought to add in tomatoes & cucumbers! mmmmmmmmmmmm! what tasty idea. yay!

Vic Robinson said...

I alway use dill in my ranch too. Try to add a little "bacon" bits...make a world of difference.

Amy said...

Mmmm I love ranch dressing and dill! Yum!!!

Adam said...

How come no one made any dill jokes yet? I guess I'll start...

This looks dillicious, I was thinking to myself, Self, what's the dilly with this girl, making awesome dishes all the time. She's like a real big dill around here :)

Whew, I'm done. I'm dilled out. Have a good weekend, and don't go thinking I'm too lame :)

Sal - AlienOnToast said...

yum this sounds good! i love pasta salad. and dill!

Lovlie said...

Who doesn't like a nice creamy macaroni from time to time! Look delicious!

Jenn said...

Yum, dilly ranch!

Penzeys spices makes a ranch seasoning that is called "buttermilk ranch", but the ingredients are indeed vegan. Hand-mixed from: salt, bell peppers, garlic, onion, sugar, black pepper, parsley, thyme, basil.

I mix it with tofutti sour cream and dunk potato chips in it.

http://www.penzeys.com/cgi-bin/penzeys/p-penzeysbuttermilk.html