I used to giggle each time Fox had a new special on when the network was still new.  They had catchy titles like When Giant Squids Attack!  or World's Deadliest Swarms! and always ended with Next, on Fox, with a Shatneresque cadence.  So, this week it's When Picnic Lunches Go Vegan!  sadly, not on Fox.

There's a state park close by here with a really nice lake that has boat rentals as well.  The plan was to pack a lunch, enjoy the day and spend some time kayaking around the lake.  The big decision is what to pack as food. Peanut butter and jelly makes for something easy, but I wasn't in a sandwichy mood and was really jonesing for some pasta salad.  As I was digging about in the refrigerator figuring out what all was going into the pasta salad I realized we had a distinct lack of hummus as well, so I figured I'd whip of some of that quickly.

Pasta, for those of us who are gluten free is a bit of an art.  Rice pasta, for lack of a better way of saying it is really kind of yucky.  It doesn't taste like much and tends to fall apart and stick to itself when it cools.  I've found that a company called Ancient Harvest that makes a corn/quinoa mixture works much better.  Tastes better too IMO.  I only had some elbows in the cabinet instead of the cute little multi-colored pagodas, but I made do somehow.

Gluten Free, Soy Free, Veggie Pasta
1 box of pasta cooked, drained and rinsed in cold water
1/3 cup each of veggies of your choice.  I used:
carrots
radishes
onions
yellow pepper
cauliflower
broccoli
1/4c of gf/sf greek salad dressing of your choice, or use red wine vinegar and evoo with some spices mixed in.

Mix your veggies into the cooked pasta (2 quart bowl should hold it all) and add the dressing.  Toss to coat, chill for at least an hour.

Quinoa pasta

Yes, I do know how to use the Chef's knife

Yum!

The hummus is just as easy, maybe more so.
Ingredients are:
1 can of garbanzo beans.
1 lemon
2 tablespoons of tahini
cumin
turmeric
cayenne pepper (optional)
roasted red peppers (optional)

Drain your garbanzos, but reserve juice.  We're going to use that instead of oil later.  Put the beans in your food processor.  Cut your lemon in half and juice it, pour into the processor.  Add 2 tablespoons of tahini to the processor and then add cumin and turmeric for your taste.  If you like it spicier add a few shakes of cayenne, then blend!
You'll get a nice paste with small chunks in the first go round of blending.  Add about 2 tablespoons of the reserved liquid from the garbanzos and blend again.  You should now have a smooth paste.
Add your hummus to a 2 cup bowl and top with a tablespoon of roasted red peppers if you like.

See my Ninja?

Hummus with Roasted Red Peppers

Lunch!

The rest of lunch was made up of sugar snap peas, an orange and some Nut Thins, almond crackers.  I use silicone cupcake thingies a lot in our lunch boxes for dip, or small things I don't want spilling into other stuff.  The minions especially love it when I tuck the pink ones in their lunch boxes, complete with a note from me telling me how much I love them.

What did you all do with your Saturday?