The potluck crowd-pleaser
Easy-to-make pasta salad packs in the seasonal vegetables
A great pasta salad is a beautiful thing. It anchors a picnic, potluck or buffet with aplomb. It’s portable, flexible, and easily and often vegetarian.
Pasta salads are such a nice way to play around with seasonal vegetables, so you can change things up all year.
Spring and summer are peak moments to scoop up great produce at the farmers market, grab a box of pasta, and quickly turn all of it into a crowd-pleasing and easy-to-make side or main dish. I tend to pack in the vegetables. The results are beautiful and nicely tilted toward the healthy side.
In this recipe, the asparagus and sugar snap peas get a bit more tender and keep their bright green colour after a quick simmer. The best part is that you can add them right into the pasta at the end of the cooking time. That saves a step and an extra pot.
If you chop the leafy greens, they’ll blend into the salad more, but sometimes I like to leave them whole and have the whole thing be kind of a cross between a pasta salad and a regular salad.
You can make this salad up to a day ahead of time. Leave the arugula, spinach and basil out and add them right before serving. It keeps them from getting wilted and darkening.
Also, hold off on the tomatoes. Toss them in at the very end to keep them from getting slightly mealy.
If you have made the salad ahead, let it sit at room temperature for at least 20 minutes to take the chill off before serving.
Also, if you refrigerated the salad, add an extra drizzle of olive oil and give it a toss.
Vegetarian Spring Pasta Salad
Serves: 8
Time: 25 minutes start to finish
1 lb. (454 g) dried spiral pasta 2 cups (500 mL) halved sugar snap peas
2 cups (500 mL) asparagus in 1-inch (2.5-cm) pieces
2 cups (500 mL) baby or roughly chopped arugula
2 cups (500 mL) baby or roughly chopped spinach
1 bell pepper (red, yellow, or orange), finely diced
1 pint (500 mL) cherry tomatoes,
cut in half, or quarters if larger
1/2 cup (125 mL) sliced scallions 1/2 cup (125 mL) extra virgin olive oil
2 tbsp. (30 mL) mayonnaise
1/4 cup (60 mL) rice vinegar
1 tbsp. (15 mL) Dijon mustard
1/2 cup (125 mL) chopped shallots 1/2 cup (125 mL) slivered fresh basil Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
1/3 cup (80 mL) finely grated Parmesan cheese
Heat a large pot of salted water to a boil. Cook the pasta according to package directions, but 1 minute before the pasta is tender, add the sugar snap peas and the asparagus. Cook for 1 minute, then drain the pasta and the vegetables and rinse under cold water. Drain well.
Place pasta, sugar snap peas and asparagus in bowl with the arugula, spinach, peppers, tomatoes and scallions.
In a small bowl or container, combine the olive oil, mayonnaise, vinegar, mustard, shallots, basil, salt and pepper. Pour this dressing over the pasta salad and toss well to combine. Add the Parmesan and toss again. Adjust the seasonings as needed.