The heatwave is back! Today, the weather peaked to 38°C in Geneva and we are taking it slow, drinking plenty of fluids, and eating light and refreshing foods. The farfalle pasta salad featured above will be our supper tonight. It’s a great dish to serve when it’s this hot. I thought of sharing it with you just in case you are in the same situation as us.

This salad is easy to throw together and the dressing is light, creamy and lemony. I made the salad dressing with silken tofu, lemon juice, Dijon mustard, vegetable oil, garlic, red pepper flakes and a bit of nutritional yeast. If you can’t find nutritional yeast in Geneva, you can make it without or substitute with a hint of grated parmesan cheese. I simply whipped up the ingredients in my Nutribullet blender. If you don’t like tofu, you will never know that there’s tofu in the dressing. This dressing is so good and it pairs beautifully with this pasta salad.

Here’s the recipe.

Farfalle heatwave salad

Serves 4-6

Ingredients

Salad ingredients

• 3 cups farfalle pasta (I used wholewheat), cooked
• 1 red onion, chopped
• 2 cups cherry tomatoes, halved
• 1 cucumber with peel, chopped
• 2-3 carrots, chopped
• A big bunch of red radishes, chopped
• 2 cups fresh arugula leaves
• A mix of fresh herbs such as a handful of each: fresh dill weed, basil and mint leaves, chopped
• Dried oregano, mineral salt and ground pepper, to taste

Note: I used a mandoline to finely slice the veggies and onion (except the tomatoes).

Dressing ingredients

• ½ cup organic silken tofu (tofu soyeux)
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice, freshly squeezed
• 1/3 cup vegetable oil
• 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
• 1 or 2 garlic bud(s)
• ½ to 1 teaspoon dry red chili flakes
• 1 tablespoon nutritional yeast (omit if you can’t find this in Geneva or add a hint of grated Parmesan cheese)

Procedure

Make the salad dressing by putting all the ingredients in your small blender or Nutribullet and whizz for a few seconds until creamy. Pour this in a glass jar and cover with lid. Set aside in the refridgerator.

Cook the pasta in salted boiling water according to package. Strain, rinse and let cool. Set aside.

Prepare/chop/slice all your veggies and fresh herbs. Wash, rinse and spin the arugula leaves.

Put cooked pasta, veggies, aragula and herbs in a big salad bowl and toss with clean hands. Add oregano, salt and pepper.

To the salad, add a tablespoon of salad dressing and toss. Add another tablespoon and toss to evenly coat the ingredients. Repeat this several times, however, don’t weigh the salad down with too much dressing. You should add just enough of it so that it coats the ingredients and gives the salad flavour. Allow your guest to add some extra dressing to their own portions should they prefer more.

Enjoy!