Spicy Southern California Black Bean Spaghetti Salad {Vegan, Gluten-Free}

Ingredients

• 1 (8-ounce) box Explore Cuisine Black Bean Spaghetti
• 2 zucchini, spiralized into "noodles"
• 1 red bell pepper, stemmed, seeded and finely chopped
• 1 cucumber, skin peeled and finely chopped
• 1 avocado, mashed with a squeeze of fresh organic lemon juice
• 1 cup corn kernels (canned in water works fine, just rinse and drain)
• 8 handfuls Baby Spinach
• 4 tablespoons vegan cheese (whatever kind you prefer)
• .
• Adobo Chipotle Sauce
• 16 dried ancho chiles, seeded and deveined
• 16 dried guajillo chiles, seeded and deveined
• 3 tablespoons peeled and finely minced fresh ginger
• 3 teaspoon ground cumin
• 2 teaspoons kosher salt
• 3/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• .
• Garnish: Pumpkin seeds + dill for garnish

Directions

1. First, start the dried ancho and guajillo chiles softening by putting them in a big bowl and covering them with hottest tap water for about 25-30 minutes. Set bowl aside. Put a big pot of water on the stove and heat it to boiling for the spaghetti.
2. Prep the vegetables: While waiting for the water to boil, spiralize the zucchini, chop the red pepper and the cucumber, and set them all aside. In a small bowl, mash the avocado with a squeeze of lemon juice so it doesn’t get brown, and set aside. Drain, rinse and drain again the corn kernels (if they are canned; if you are using frozen kernels, simply thaw them), and set corn aside.
3. Once pasta water is boiling vigorously, add the Explore Cuisine Black Bean Spaghetti and let cook for 6 minutes. Once pasta is done, remove from heat, drain into a colander, rinse under cool water and set aside.
4. Make the Spicy Adobo Chipotle Sauce: Remove soaked chiles from soaking water (discard water), remove stems if any of them have stems on, place the soaked chiles in a blender along with the ginger, cumin, salt and pepper. Blend until very smooth. Stop the motor a few times to scrape down the sides with a spatula and give things a stir, just to make sure everything’s getting puréed. Don’t be tempted to add liquid—you want the final sauce to be thick. Scrape the purée into a small bowl if you plan to use it soon, or into a jar with a tight fitting lid if you want to save it for later. It’ll keep in the fridge for up to 5 days, or in the freezer for 3 months.
5. Next, add spicy adobo chipotle sauce to your cookie noodles and zucchini noodles, tossing to coat. Add just enough to coat them; you may have some left over. (Give it a taste to make sure you can take the heat level. Both ancho and guajillo are considered mild peppers, but each person’s tolerance is different.)
6. Build the bowl: Add 2 handfuls of baby spinach to each of 4 wide, shallow bowls. Add some noodles, then sprinkle on cucumber, red bell pepper, corn, vegan cheese and a plop of guacamole in the center of the bowl. Garnish with a sprinkle of pumpkin seeds and freshly chopped dill.
7. Serves 4.

Notes