California Roll Pasta Salad

Ahh, pasta salad. Its the perfect thing to have in your fridge during these hot summer days. Make it ahead of time, (in the evening when its cooler), and it will be ready to go when you're hungry but don't want to cook because of the heat. I love throwing some into a small container to take with me for lunch at the park.

My go-to pasta salad has been a summer seafood pasta salad; noodles mixed with cherry tomatoes, tri-color bell peppers, imitation crab, and Italian dressing. Say what you want, but I love imitation crab in pasta salad! One day when I was thinking about this my thoughts wandered over to California rolls. When I was pregnant it was some of the only sushi I could eat since most places use imitation crab which is not raw. I wondered, could I put the flavors of a California roll into a pasta salad? It turned out I could, and it was delicious! Creamy avocado dressing, crunchy vegetables, and soft imitation crab all rounded out with the flavors of sesame and soy, it was a pasta salad like none I had ever tried before.  I think this cool and refreshing take could be my new go-to pasta salad!


California Roll Pasta Salad
This is the type of recipe I don't really measure for, so amounts are approximations. Do whatever you think will taste good! I used a store bought avacado ranch dressing, but the soy sauce really helps to mellow any ranch flavor out. 

1 box short noodles like penne or rotini ( I used a veggie infused pasta made with zucchini and spinach)
Avacado ranch dressing (or other avacado based dressing.)
1 large cucumber
2 handfuls baby carrots, or one large carrot
1 -2 packages flake style imitation crab
soy sauce
sesame seeds

1. Cook the pasta, drain, and let chill in the fridge.
2. Seed and dice the cucumber and dice the carrots.
3. Add the vegetables, imitation crab, and approximately 1/2 bottle of the avocado dressing to the cold pasta. Add a few splashes of soy sauce and a sprinkle of sesame seeds and mix.
4. Return to the fridge to let it chill and have the flavors meld more, or enjoy it right away! You could even chop and sprinkle some nori on top if you felt so inclined.