Embrace Summer with Pasta Salads

I have been craving pasta salad for the last couple of weeks.  A summery, crisp, and bright pasta salad of some kind. At the same time I read an NPR blog post that basically read my mine (http://www.npr.org/2013/06/26/195311156/helping-pasta-salad-dress-for-success).

Think differently about your pasta salad - ditch your jar of mayonnaise and think of it as a salad or a complete meal (whole grains [e.g,, pasta], vegetables, protein [e.g. nuts, beans, tofu, shrimp], and fat [e.g., olive oil]) not just a starchy/fatty side dish.  Look around you at all of the fresh summer tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, chards, asparagus, and leafy greens for inspiration.

Apparently I am not that original in some of my inspirations because just as I was excited to put together a unique pasta salad, I pulled up the Cooking Light website and right on the cover was 25 of the Best Pasta Salad recipes.

Well okay.  Sometimes, there is value in having a unique idea and sometimes there is value in not missing out on the awesome things that everyone else is doing. So my unique inspiration to create the perfect pasta salad turned more into following the crowd.  Which turned out just fine.

Based on what we had in the house - fresh our veggie basket, things I could pick from my container garden, and the few things in our fridge that needed to be used up – I ended up making a delicious bright, crunchy, and almost vegan pasta salad (I couldn’t resist a sprinkle of feta cheese at the end!)

Here is what we ended up with.

 

Salad:

• Whole wheat penne pasta (about ½ box)

• Yellow bell pepper (chopped into ¼ inch cubes)
• Shredded carrot
• Finely chopped red onion (about ¼ cup)
• Broccoli (one large head)
• Grape tomatoes (halved)

I ended up steaming the broccoli for maybe two minutes by throwing it in with the pasta during the last few minutes of cooking.  Then tossed everything together in a large bowl.

Dressing:

• Rice wine vinegar

• Olive Oil

• Dijon Mustard

• Lemon juice

• Salt and pepper

• Oregano

• Basil
• Chives

I used about equal parts of vinegar and olive oil, since I made a large bowl of salad, I used maybe 1/3 cup of each.  Then added a heaping large spoonful of mustard and maybe 1 to 2 tablespoons of lemon juice and the salt and pepper.  Adjust the ingredients to taste.  The rice wine vinegar adds a little bit of sweetness. But if you use another vinegar like regular white vinegar you may want to add a little sugar or honey.  Then I added quite a bit of dried oregano, maybe 2 tablespoons and some basil and chives from my garden.

When adding the dressing, add it slowly and toss to coat.  Be careful not to overdress the salad or it will get soggy.  You can always save the leftover dressing and add it later if you think it’s too dry.