buffalo white bean pasta salad with blue cheese ranch
I said I was done with pasta salad for the season but I guess I wasn’t done with pasta salad for the season.
Wednesday morning, J and I ventured carefully outside around 4:30am to assess the water levels around where we live. The wind gusts were fierce, probably around 40 mph, but a few other folks wandered about with their dogs or also peering over the seawall to see how much water the surge drew over the walkway.
I was stunned. While none of the residences were in danger of flooding, the entire lower sidewalk was covered in water, up to step two of the six (I think six)-step stairs leading up to the road level. The sight was very humbling. And while I don’t want to clog up a post about pasta salad with narratives from Idalia (AKA The Onion), I felt that was a necessary part of my morning to share.
The whole day we basically hunkered inside, occasionally drifting out to check on the harbor. I jumped on the treadmill for a run, and made this pasta salad. We don’t really need more meal prep, but I was bored, and found three bottles of hot sauce so I thought a fridge-dump pasta sounded like a swell idea.
And it was, and is. It’s damn good, folks.
Think of this as lighter comfort food. Full of veggies, tossed with a delectable blue cheese ranch and plenty of spicy buffalo sauce. A perfect transitional piece from August to September, summer to fall. Pasta salads, like Beer Cheese Broccoli Noodle Soup, are proper hurricane foods. Makes a lot, satiates the tummy, and gives warmth to the soul.
The Squiggles
Like all of my recent pasta salads, we’re requiring few ingredients for this guy. Essential when you grocery shopped once in the week and have fairly limited supplies in your larders while, you know, a hurricane strikes.
Start with your favorite short cut pasta. Boil it off and rinse under cold water to stop the cooking.
Then, mix up your ranch. Some of this will be combined with buffalo sauce for the pasta marinade (marinade isn’t the correct word here but we’re going with it) so it won’t be fully assembled at first. The base is my usual ranch: yogurt, lemon, parsley, dill, garlic and onion powders.
Separate about 3 tablespoons of the dressing out and stir with the buffalo sauce. Then, to the larger portion, stir in some blue cheese and a bit of buttermilk to thin it out. A couple spoonfuls should do the trick.
Fill ‘Er Up
Throw your cooked pasta into a bowl and add a bunch of good shit.
Well, first, stir in the buffalo-ranch mix into the noodles, then add a bunch of good shit. Cucumbers, avocado, romaine, and white beans. Mix it up until nicely combined.
Move to a nice bowl and top with more buffalo sauce, more blue cheese, a drizzle of blue cheese ranch (plus lots more for serving), and fresh basil. Dive right in, preferably with your favorite cooked protein and maybe some bread on the side, because carbs on carbs is the way to go.
Some swaps:
You can switch the white beans for chickpeas.
If you hate blue cheese, you suck, but feta is a great substitute.
Other veggies that’d be nice: red onion, red peppers, carrots, or celery. Think of stuff you’d like to eat with buffalo wings.
Okay, maybe now I’m done with pasta salad for the season. Though I still have 2-3 bags of fusilli corti to use eventually…
Tried this recipe out? Leave a rating and comment below with your thoughts, and don’t forget to come say hi on Instagram and show me what you made!
Want pasta fast-a?
“Bacon” Ranch and Avocado Pasta Salad
Lemon Chickpea, Tomato, and Avocado Pasta Salad
buffalo white bean pasta salad with blue cheese ranch
Ingredients
- 1 lb short cut pasta
- 2 cups shredded romaine lettuce
- 2-3 Persian cucumbers, sliced
- 2 15-oz cans white beans, drained and rinsed
- 1 avocado, chopped
- 1/2 cup buffalo sauce, homemade or store bought, plus more for serving
blue cheese ranch
- 1 cup plain whole milk Greek yogurt
- 2 tbsp lemon juice
- 1 tbsp dried parsley
- 1 tsp dried dill
- 1 tsp onion powder
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1/3 cup crumbled blue cheese, plus more for serving
- 2-3 tbsp milk, to thin as needed
Instructions
- Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Cook the pasta according to package directions. Drain and rinse under cold water to stop the cooking process.
- In a bowl, stir together the yogurt, lemon juice, parsley, dill, onion powder, garlic powder, and a pinch of salt and pepper.
- Scoop 3 tablespoons of the ranch into a separate bowl. Stir in the buffalo sauce.
- To the remaining ranch (the larger portion without the buffalo), add the blue cheese and a tablespoon of milk at a time until desired consistency is reach. Taste and adjust seasonings as desired.
- Add the pasta to a large bowl. Toss with the buffalo-ranch mixture, cucumber, white beans, avocado, and romaine. Transfer to a serving platter and drizzle with blue cheese ranch and more buffalo sauce. Top with fresh herbs and more blue cheese, as desired.
