A delicious pasta salad with fresh avocado and sweet mango!
Recently, I had the opportunity to go on the California Avocado Ambassador trip, where we stayed in the historic Millennium Biltmore. As I could not get off work, I arrived a little late at the Industrial in downtown Los Angeles. The restaurant offers farm-fresh cuisine with a twist of the French Provencal tradition.
We began our dinner at the Industriel with a delicious appetizer: a watercress and blueberry salad topped with California avocados, pine nuts, green beans, a poached yolk, and a green garlic dressing. They knew I could not resist anything that included poached eggs. Avocado, of course.
After dinner, I slept well and woke up to the most delicious room service, which was corn-flake-crusted French Toast. Yes, I will be recreating it to share with all of you!
We all gathered in the lobby to go to Border Grill after breakfast. But before we left, I had to take a picture of this beautiful floral arrangement. Do not think I did not want to steal it and use it as a centerpiece on my dining room table.
We were served a huge glass of sparkling white sangria as soon as we entered the restaurant. What’s that black background there? The waiter’s apron is what it’s called. Poor guy had to hold this heavy tray up for a long time while we took photos. What’s it like to be a food blogger? We fueled up with these sangrias, and then it was time to have a pasta-salad contest. We formed groups and competed to make the most creative, innovative pasta salad using California avocados. I worked with Ali, a fellow California Avocado Ambassador from Gimme Some Oven, to create GuacWok, a pasta salad with an Asian flair.
We barely got everything on the plate after scrambling to find Sriracha in a time frame of 15 minutes. It was a great recipe, even though we didn’t win. This is a recipe I would make any day of the week.
After the judging was completed, I was invited to lunch by chefs Mary Sue Milliken & Susan Feniger. Here, I had the most epic ribs that I have ever tasted in my 25 years of existence. These ribs were glazed with cumin and served on bed heirloom beans, bacon salad, and California avocado pineapple salsa. What about the grilled streetcorn? This was awesome. This is a recipe I will try to replicate at home because I can’t stop thinking about it since I ate it.
Ingredients
- 8 ounces elbows pasta
- California Avocados, halved, seeded, peeled, diced
- One mango, diced and peeled
- Peel and grate one carrot
- 1/4 cup red cabbage shredded
- One thinly sliced green onion
- Pine nuts, two tablespoons
- To taste, add Kosher Salt and freshly ground Black Pepper
For the Dressing
- Two tablespoons of soy sauce
- Sesame oil two teaspoons
- Sugar to taste: 1 1/2 teaspoons or more.
- Half a teaspoon of sesame seeds
Instructions
- Whisk together sesame oil and sugar with soy sauce to make the dressing. Set aside.
- Cook pasta in a large pot with salted boiling water according to the package directions. Drain well.
- Combine pasta with avocado, mangoes, carrots, cabbage, green onions, pine nuts, and soy sauce dressing in a large serving bowl. Add salt and pepper according to taste.
- Serve immediately