summertime italian pasta salad
serves 8 as a main dish, or, a large side for a party
Loaded with veggies and quick and easy to make. This pasta salad will be plenty to last your family several days as a main course. Or, bring it to your next party and serve as a side dish.
ingredients
1 lb of pasta, rotini or other
vegan parm cheese
3 heaping handfuls of spinach
Chopped veggies, 1-2 cups of each:
-celery
-cucumber
-green beans
-corn
-cherry tomatoes
-small red onion
Dressing:
-vegan mayo, 2 tbs
-maple syrup, 2 tbs
-brown mustard, 1 tbs
-garlic powder, 1 tbs
-dried basil, 1 tbs
-dried thyme, 1 tbs
-dried oregano, 1 tbs
-S&P
method
Start by prepping the dressing in a large mixing bowl or cup. S&P to taste.
Boil the pasta and set your timer. Make sure not to overcook the pasta here.
Wash and chop the veggies.
When the pasta is done, strain the water and add the pasta into a giant mixing bowl.
Add the spinach first while the pasta is still warm. This will allow the spinach to wilt some. Next, mix in all the veggies.
Pour the dressing over the salad and mix well. Option to start by pouring the dressing a little at a time to find the coverage you prefer. Any left over dressing will store well in the fridge.
Cover and let chill in the fridge for a few hours. You can eat right away but this is best served chilled.
Sprinkle with your favoriate plant-based parmesan cheese!
Enjoy!
notes
We used Banza rotini pasta and Violife "Just like Parmesan"
Don't get too caught up with the amount of veggies used. I ended up with 1-2 cups of most because that's what we had at home. Use what you have!
Option to do half the pasta and swap for 1-2 cans of chickpeas or other beans instead
You can certainly eat this right away, but it's best served after chilled for a few hours in order to let the noodles soak up all the flavor!
The dressing in this recipe is super versatile and can be used as a regular salad dressing.
I used all dried seasonings in this salad but it would be fun to experiment with fresh herbs!