A potluck favourite
Vegetarian pasta salad looks great and carries some heft as a healthy side
A great pasta salad is a beautiful thing. It anchors a picnic, potluck or buffet with aplomb. It’s portable, flexible and easily vegetarian.
Pasta salads are also 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 the great produce at the farmers’ market, grab a box of pasta and quickly turn all of it into a crowdpleasing and easy side or main dish.
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 you can add them right into the pasta at the end of the cooking time, saving a step and an extra pot.
If you chop the leafy greens, they will 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 ahead of time, up to one day. Ideally, leave the arugula, spinach and basil out and add them right before serving. Adding the greens at the last minute keeps them from getting wilted and darkening.
Also, hold off on the tomatoes: Tomatoes really should never see the inside of a refrigerator, and since you’ll have to refrigerate this salad to keep it fresh, tossing in the tomatoes at the very end will keep them from getting slightly mealy.