Corn and Blueberry Pasta Salad

I’m a brave person. I wouldn’t say I’m fearless, but I don’t let fear prevent me from taking crazy leaps of faith. Like the time I turned down a well paying job with a solid future in accounting in order to try my hand at writing romance novels.

My latest act of daring could be considered even more foolhardy: I modified a recipe from Better Homes and Gardens.

Gasp!

Let me preface this by saying that I love BHG. The magazine always has great decorating ideas, inspiring garden features, and recipes I love. The recipes are sophisticated but simple.

The other day, I was flipping through the June issue and spotted a recipe for Corn and Blueberry Salad and I stopped in my tracks. Corn and blueberries? Together? It was so pretty, I had to try it.

I followed the recipe exactly, and it was delightful. This salad is gorgeous and would be a wonderful addition to any potluck. But I live in a house with two people, and this was a lot of salad for just two people.

So after we had eaten about half of it, I took a leap of faith and modified the recipe to come up with Corn and Blueberry Pasta Salad. No recipe is sacred. And with apologies to the editors and writers at BHG, I have to tell you, this is even more delicious than the original. It was a great grab-and-go lunch meal for me for a couple of days, which was timely since I was deep into writing one of next year’s Fool’s Gold romances at the time. (I’m working on Montana’s story.)

Note: This recipe is from scratch. Alternatively, you could start out with Corn and Blueberry Salad from BHG and then add the remaining ingredients after you eat about half.

Corn and Blueberry Pasta Salad

3 ears sweet corn
½ C fresh blueberries
½ C cucumber, sliced
½ C carrots, diced
½ C sugar snap peas, chopped
¼ C red onion, diced
¼ C red bell pepper, diced
½ C cheddar cheese, in ¼-inch chunks
2 T chopped fresh cilantro
½ jalapeño pepper, seeded and finely chopped
4 C cooked whole wheat pasta

Dressing:
1 C mayonnaise
1 T lime juice
1 T olive oil
2 t honey
¼ t ground cumin

Boil the corn for 5-7 minutes, then drain and rinse with cool water. Wait until the corn is cool enough that it won’t melt the cheese when you mix the ingredients. Cut the kernels from the cobs and place in a large bowl with the next 9 ingredients.

Whisk together the dressing ingredients and add to the pasta mixture. Fold in the dressing gently so you don’t pop the blueberries. Refrigerate overnight if you can resist it that long. Try to give it at least a couple of hours for the flavors to meld.