Recipe Tuesday ~ Veggie Pasta Salad

Yesterday was one of those days where it felt "too hot to eat". Shannon wanted pasta, but Andy and I weren't going for it because it just sounded way to hot and heavy, so I compromised with a veggie-heavy pasta salad with some grilled chicken on the top.

I love pasta and I love salads, but I really dislike "salads" that are laden with mayonaisse based dressings. Yeech.  I just don't like that white gloppy stuff, and I feel like it's going straight to my rear end if I do eat it.  So I make mine a bit differently.  I should have taken a photo, but alas, I didn't, so you're stuck with an inaccurate photo today of some generic pasta salad, not mine.  There are no amounts on the veggies, just cut as much as you like, and skip what you don't like.  The variety of colors make it really pretty, and the purple cabbage gives it a good bit of crunch!

Barb's Veggie Pasta Salad

• 1 12 oz box whole wheat pasta (penne, rotini, or cavatapi)
• fresh broccoli, chopped
• fresh cauliflower, chopped
• snow peas, ends trimmed
• grape tomatoes, cut in half
• red cabbage, chopped
• baby carrots, cut into small rounds
• zucchini, cut into rounds
• 1 can chickpeas (garbanzo beans), rinsed and drained
• frozen corn, thawed
• frozen peas, thawed
• 1 can artichoke hearts, drained and chopped
• ripe olives, cut into slivers
• reduced fat feta cheese
• fresh herbs, chopped (whatever you like!)
• 1 fresh lemon, cut in half
• 1/2 C Girard's Caesar Dressing
• 1 C fat free italian dressing

Bring water to a boil and add a bit of salt.  Add pasta and cook until al dente'.  Just before the pasta is finished, add the chopped broccoli, cauliflower, and snow peas to the pasta pot and cook for 1 minute.  Drain and rinse with icy cold water.  Add to a large bowl.  Add remaining veggies, herbs, corn, peas, chickpeas, olives, artichokes, and feta cheese.  Pour dressings over the top (if you don't like Caesar dressing, substitute some ranch, but make sure it isn't fat free. You need a bit of fat in there so that the dressing will stick to the pasta and veggies). Squeeze a bit of lemon juice over the top. Mix well and chill for an hour.  

If you like, you can add some grilled shrimp or chicken over the top.  That's what I did.  We even had a bunch of 11 year old girls over for dinner and they loved it!

Now go boil up some pasta and get going!  High fiber, great flavor and you'll have leftovers for lunch all week!

Comments

[carjazi]

Sounds pretty good, but I'll tell ya that I'm thinking about a Senate coney island right now. You just can't find a decent coney anywhere in the state of Ohio. Hope you have a great week.

[Susan]

Oooh, that sounds great! Are you changing your mind on the no carb/low carb thing, or do you mostly eat the veggies and the chicken?

[Eve]

Mmmmm, that sounds so good!!!

[Beth Nixon]

oh, can you come over and make this for me tonight! Sounds delicious!

[Roxanna]

great recipe - i'll have to give it a try!

[Tammy]

Love this recipe and posted it at my Scrappin' Recipes blog. Anything with pasta in it, I'm gonna love. Great for a hot day.

http://tagleenterprises.com/recipeblog/barbs-veggie-pasta-salad

[Mandi N.]

Ohh!!! Can't wait to try out the recipe! It sounds soooo good!

[Beth (20birds)]

oh! i have not been to recipe tuesday in awhile... dang! today in canada is way too cold so i am making a hearty soup but when it gets a bit warmer I will maje this...

[Amanda]

Good recipe! We eat a lot of dishes like this and variations on salads and sandwiches in summer because it's so hot. I've even gotten picky DH to eat stir fry by juiliening the veggies really small, and wrapping the veggies and rice in lettuce leaves like when he was in Korea.

[Victoria]

Tasty sounding salad recipe. Thanks! I agree about not wanting anything heavy or laden with mayonnaise in this heat. I hope you have a great day! :)