Japanese pasta salad with roasted kabocha

Step 1

Preheat oven to 450°F.

Step 2

Add cubes of kabocha squash to a large baking sheet. Add avocado oil, garlic powder, sea salt and ground pepper and toss with your hands to coat well. Spread out in an even layer and bake for 30 minutes, flipping half way through the bake time.

Step 3

Meanwhile bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Cook paste to al dente. Just before draining add kale and corn to the water, stir to submerge, then drain together. Do not rinse. Let cool until room temperature before assembling the pasta salad.

Step 4

To make the dressing combine the mayonnaise, miso, water, lime juice, garlic and chili flakes in a blender until smooth or combine all the ingredients together in a bowl and ensure to finely mince the garlic to incorporate.

Step 5

Once pasta and roasted kabocha squash is cooled toss together with red onion, cilantro, seaweed, black sesame seeds and all the dressing. Serve immediately. You can also toss everything together and refrigerate for a few hours before serving. I like letting the pasta salad sit out to take the chill off from the fridge before eating.