Summer Pasta Salad
Excerpt from the book, Plant-Based on a Budget: Just like the name says, this Summer Pasta Salad is one of my favorite dishes to share in a group setting, and it holds up through transportation and hot weather. It’s packed with flavor, it’s customizable, and no one thinks twice about the fact that it’s vegan.
From Plant-Based on a Budget: We can’t have enough of this delicious and fresh Summer Pasta Salad. It’s one of the easiest and most versatile recipes out there and very budget-friendly. You can add any veggies, beans, or herbs you like and it will probably taste amazing.
Potluck Must
Pasta salad is the most classic “bring along” potluck dish and it makes sense since it’s so easy to prepare and it keeps so well for hours. Actually, it is a known fact (a proven science!) that pasta salad tastes much better the morning after or a few hours after being prepared. The flavors blend and the veggies lose some of their juices creating a super moist and flavorful dish. So remember this the next time you are thinking of preparing your Summer Pasta Salad right before lunch or picnic. Give it a couple of hours if you’d like to intensify the flavors.
Weekly Batch Cook Recipe
If you’re looking for super-easy recipes to batch cook for the week ahead, this Summer Pasta Salad is an amazing idea! You can prepare a big amount and parcel it for the days ahead and even add a few things to switch it up on a few of the meals.
For example, adding some last-minute avocado chunks can take this fantastic salad to a whole new level and make it a more complete meal. What are your favorite pasta salad add ons? Let us know in the comments!
Recommended equipment:
Photos by Alfonso Revilla
Summer Pasta Salad
Ingredients
- 1 pound of your favorite pasta
- 2 tablespoons of olive oil
- 1 small red, white, or yellow onion, diced
- 2 small garlic cloves minced
- 1 6.5-ounce jar of marinated artichoke quarters with their juices
- 1 15-ounce can of garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed
- Juice of 1 lemon
- ½ teaspoon of minced lemon zest
- ½ teaspoon of salt
- Cherry tomatoes halved
- Freshly ground pepper to taste
Instructions
- In a large pot over medium-high heat, boil water and cook the pasta according to the directions on the package. Remove from the heat and drain.
- While the pasta cools, begin on the veggies. In a large pan over medium-high heat, heat the olive oil and saute. the onion and garlic for 3 minutes or until the onion become tender and translucent.
- Add the artichokes and their juices, garbanzo beans, lemon juice, lemon zest, and salt and simmer over medium heat for 5 minutes.
- Add the drained pasta and mix well.
- Garnish with the cherry tomatoes and sprinkle with pepper.
- Serve warm if you’re rushed, or serve chilled if you have 30 minutes to spare.
Nutrition
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