With Yoghurt Mayonnaise Dressing
They are commonly known as pickles in US and Canada and gherkins in the UK and other parts of the world. They are small cucumbers preserved in vinegar, brine, or a similar solution and left to ferment for a period of time. The word gherkin can be very confusing because it refers to pickles made from two different species of cucumber. The first is Cucumis anguria, commonly known as bur gherkin, West Indian gherkin or Jerusalem cucumber. It is used for pickling but must be used when it’s 4cm long or less because it becomes bitter and spiny when it grows bigger.
The second is the common garden cucumber, known as Cucumis sativus. There are three cultivars: the slicing, pickling and burpless cucumbers. Slicing cucumbers are longer, dark green, with a thick smooth skin and are eaten fresh, in salads. Small slicing cucumbers can also be pickled. Pickling cucumbers: any cucumber can be pickled, but commercial pickles are made from a specific cultivar grown for pickling and known as picklers. Picklers tend to be shorter and thicker, with a pale greenish yellow and bumpy skin that is never waxed.
Burpless cucumbers are sweeter, have a thinner skin, and are reputed to be easy to digest and to have a pleasant taste. They are mostly grown in green houses and are marketed as seedless. They are many varieties like Lebanese cucumbers which are small with distinct flavour and aroma; East Asian cucumbers: mild with a rigid bumpy skin and Persian cucumber: which are mini, seedless and slightly sweet, just to mention a few. A more detailed overview of this can be found in Wikipedia.
The word ‘pickle’ actually describes any pickled vegetable such as cauliflower, celery, onion etc preserved in vinegar or brine or similar solution. Today I want to share with you a pasta salad recipe, with pickles, cucumbers, and other vegetables. And being a carnivore, (you guessed right), I had to sneak in some ham in the salad. I enjoyed eating it. Hope you do too!
Please always remember to assemble ingredients before you start.
Combine pasta, peas, ham, gherkins, tomatoes, carrots, bell peppers cucumber and parsley in a serving bowl.
Toss to mix.
Ingredients for salad dressing.
whisk yoghurt, mayonnaise and vinegar in a bowl
until creamy and well combined. Season generously with salt and pepper.
I really enjoyed eating this salad
Hope you do too.
Pasta Salad with Vegetables and Ham
Preparation time: 30 minutes + chilling time 30 minutes; cooking time: 10 minutes Serves: 4-6
Ingredients
- 300g pasta of your choice
- 300g (2 cups, 8½oz) frozen peas
- 300g (10½oz) ham, cut into small cubes
- 10 small pickles (gherkins in vinegar), finely diced
- 3 medium tomatoes, quartered, seeded and sliced
- 2 carrots peeled and coarsely grated
- ¼ cup each red, yellow, orange bell peppers (capsicum)
- 1 cup sliced cucumber
- 20g (¼ cup) chopped fresh parsley
Yogurt-Mayonnaise (I made half the recipe)
- 125g (½ cup) yoghurt
- 125ml (½ cup) light mayonnaise
- 2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
Instructions
- Cook pasta in plenty of salted water, as per package instructions, until al dente. Drain, rinse under cold running water and leave to cool.
- Microwave peas with ¼ teaspoon salt until piping hot (5-10 minutes) and set aside to cool.
- Combine pasta, peas, ham, gherkins, tomatoes, carrots, bell peppers cucumber and parsley in a serving bowl. Toss to mix.
- To make yogurt mayonnaise: whisk yoghurt, mayonnaise and vinegar in a bowl until creamy and well combined. Season generously with salt and pepper.
- Stir dressing into salad. Chill covered, 30 minutes.
Points to note:
- If you prefer more yoghurt, make the ratio 2 yoghurt to 1 mayonnaise. I sometimes do that.
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This looks and sounds delicious. Vegetables and pasta are among my favourite foods.
Have a nice day Liz. 🙂
Hi,
I love veggies and pasta too…Have a fabulous week.
Liz
Hey Liz!
I made this divine pasta salad yesterday as a Nice lunch & it was super tasty…… Thanks again! x
Thank you so much for making the salad. I feel very honoured and I hope you enjoyed eating it. I love salads in general and I see you have so many lovely salad recipes. I shall be trying out a few. I have bookmarked them. Have a pleasant day!!!
What a nice colorful dish , perfect for picnics too .
Haha I love pasta salads coz I always use them as a complete meal at lunch time. Thanks for stopping by and have a wonderful week ahead!!
oh wow! looks yummy.. thanks Liz for sharing, will try this tonight! 🙂
Thanks for stopping by too, have a wonderful week!
Love pasta salad in the summer. I cook the pasta in the morning and put it all together last minute. Need to get the boiling water done before the Southern heat really cranks up!
I love pasta salad too. I hope you will post some of your favourite recipes on your new blog. I look forward to your new posts. Have a great day!
This is so yummy!
I liked it. How have you been? Thanks for being here. Have a wonderful week!
Making me hungry!
😀
Looks delicious! I love pasta salads.
Me too. Just saw the roasted tomatoes, looks delis!
This looks refreshing and delicious, Liz! I wish I had some for lunch today!
Thanks for stopping by. I shall be visiting you later in the day. Have a wonderful day and a wonderful week!
I can’t tell you, Lz, how many times I’ve made a large pasta salad on Monday and feasted on it all week for lunch in the Summer, when it’s too hot to fire up the stove. I very often throw in a couple tbsp of pickle relish but a couple chopped gherkins will work, too. What I like most of your salad, though, is that dressing. Easy to make and flavorful but not so much so that it will smother the other ingredients. Very nice!
Hi John, I am really glad to see you. I was wallowing in your blog yesterday, but I didn’t leave a trace behind. Our Summer has not yet began, temperatures are still at 64F or below, lots of rain and cloud (good for the lawn), but I think I love that better because it does get so hot here, when Summer finally arrives. I don’t like my salad drowning in dressing, I’m glad you feel the same way too. Thanks so much John, for always being here. I really appreciate. Hope you enjoy the rest of your week!
yummy, great pitures ! Made me hungry – and it’s like way past midnight over here!!
Then it must be morning for you by now. It’s 10pm right now and we are still watching America has got talent…Thanks for stopping by and thanks for liking my posts. have a pleasatn week!!
Now that is healthy eating staring us in the face! It looks so good. And, the combination of yogurt and mayo will decrease the fat even further. I’m always looking for ways to cook with less fat, but not lose the inherent flavor and texture. I love ham, but I sometimes substitute lean chicken. Nice recipe Liz. I have to tell you, when I went shopping for that scale…..I didn’t get it. I ended up buying a chair instead. Actually, the scale I was looking for (cuisinart with a metal bowl) wasn’t in stock or available in 3 places I checked so I will be heading up to the Bay this week to pick it up! The chair is nice. ;}
I do love salad, but since am such a carnivore I added some ham….hope you can see the nice square pieces of ham. It makes me eat the salad better. I don’t normally drown my salad in dressing, I add just a little to coat and to give that slight hint of taste. I saw a lot of scales in Canadian tire, I was out looking for a large stock pot for my soups, but I didn’t really see what brand they were, because I have my nice simple one and it works just fine (I made some nice dainty muffins today). Wish you luck in the Bay, am sure they will have many different brands, maybe you’ll even get confused when it comes to choosing. Wish all the best and hope you enjoy the rest of the week!!! Thanks for your friendship!!!!
Pasta and veggies – my favorites! Not fond of peas, though. Would exchange them for ceci beans, maybe.
Hi Dorrie Anne,
I love pasta and veggies too. I am fond of both peas and beans. I don’t mind either! Have a wonderful week!