Happy New Year everyone! 2016 was a great year for Christie at Home. I can't wait to take this blog further by introducing you to simpler tasty recipes that lead a sustainable lifestyle by encouraging more meatless recipes or ones that showcase companies who care about the environment or animal welfare.

When a new year begins, the first topic that comes to our minds are: New Year Resolutions. I've thought about my resolution(s) for the year and I decided I'm not going to restrict myself to any. Instead, I'll be trying out my resolutions and seeing how far they will go. I find that when we assign ourselves a big commitment for one whole year, that commitment seems very daunting and we don't give it a "try" and that resolution becomes meaningless. However when we try something, there's always the option to change our minds and not commit for the full year if it doesn't work. We are more likely to experience what that goal has to offer when we try it before crossing it off our list. So when you begin thinking about your resolutions, try them instead. Whether that means trying to eating less meat on Mondays, then Tuesdays in order to reduce your carbon footprint. Or trying to recycle plastic bottles more and then thinking about other items you can recycle. Or trying to just be more mindful about how much you consume and start scaling that back more even when it's a freebie. You'll begin to notice that trying isn't so daunting and you've managed to accomplish a resolution at the end of the year.

Now onto this Dill Cucumber Pasta Salad recipe. This dish contains dairy and eggs which you can substitute with dairy-free sour cream and a vegan mayo for a completely meatless dish but I had these ingredients in my fridge and I didn't want them to go to waste. This pasta salad is filled with cucumber, fresh dill, carrots, red onion, radish and of course, pasta. This is my way of 'trying' to incorporate more vegetables into my diet. In this recipe, I'm using Neal Brother's free-range organic mayonnaise. I find the flavour is better than other mayo's because they're using healthier eggs. You can find their products at most Canadian retailers. I hope you guys enjoy this recipe. It's super simple and quick. The only cooking time required is to make the pasta and the rest is easy.

Disclaimer: I am not sponsored by the companies listed in this post.

Step 1: INGREDIENTS

SERVES 3-4 | PREP TIME 15 MINS | COOK TIME 7 MINS | READY IN 1 HOUR 22 MINS

225 grams of seashell pasta
1 cup of diced cucumbers
3 tbsp of fresh dill finely chopped
2 radishes thinly sliced
1/2 red onion roughly chopped
1 carrot peeled and finely diced
1/2 cup of free-range organic mayo or vegan mayo
1/2 cup of organic sour cream or dairy-free sour cream
1/2 tsp of salt
1/8 tsp of pepper

Step 2: INSTRUCTIONS

Boil pasta for 7 mins or until Al-Dente texture. Strain in a colander, flash with cold water to stop the cooking process and set aside.
Meanwhile mix together the mayo, sour cream, salt and pepper. In a large mixing bowl, combine your dressing with the chopped vegetables.
Pour in the cold pasta and mix well with the dressing. Refrigerate pasta for 1 hour before serving.