Becky's Best Bites

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Very Veggie Pasta Salad

Dinner, Kid-Friendly, Lunch, Make-Ahead, Recipes, Salads

Very Veggie Pasta Salad is a quick, simple and healthy side dish, lunch or snack recipe. No mayo means it's perfect for picnics, the lake, car trips & BBQ's.  It is best served best at room temperature as great accompaniment to anything you're putting on the grill. | Becky's Best Bitrd

 

Very Veggie Pasta Salad is a quick, simple and healthy side dish, lunch or snack recipe. No mayo means it’s perfect for picnics, the lake, car trips & BBQ’s.  It is best served best at room temperature as great accompaniment to anything you’re putting on the grill.

 

Folks, this recipe for Very Veggie Pasta Salad is one of those recipes that wasn’t planned for the blog, but just sorta happened. I made it for dinner one night on a whim. We were have grilled chicken and needed a side. I looked in the pantry and frig and this is what I came up with. And once it happened it was so good that I knew it needed to be shared on the blog for a couple of reasons. #1 I knew that you would LOVE this recipe as much as we did and #2 I wanted to remember what I had thrown together so I could make it again 🙂

Very Veggie Pasta Salad | Becky's Best Bites

 

This Very Veggie Pasta Salad is so versatile!! You could really use any veggies that you had on hand, any herbs you like and that half-used box of pasta that is sitting in the panty needed to be used. I love that it doesn’t have any mayo in it, so it is safe to take on road trips, to picnics, BBQ’s, pool parties (can’t wait for those to start happening again), beach trips…you name it! It’s best served room temperature and keeps beautifully!! It is vegetarian, but could easily be prepared vegan by just substituting nutritional yeast for the parmesan cheese.

Very Veggie Pasta Salad | @beckysbestbites

 

Broccoli is a signature vegetable in my house. I always have it on hand. Broccoli is a naturally good source of antioxidants, especially vitamin C. There has be a bunch of nasty spring bugs around and the pollen has us all sniffling, so we need all the vitamin C we can get to keep our immune systems strong.

 

Carrots are no slouch either… They contain high levels of the antioxidant beta-carotene (what gives them their bright orange color) and contain high levels of vitamin A. Among the many benefits of vitamin A is that it keeps your eyes strong and may improve vision. And that is my health coach moment for this recipe 😉

Very Veggie Pasta Salad | Becky's Best Bites

Here is the recipe for Very Veggie Pasta Salad:

5.0 from 4 reviews
Very Veggie Pasta Salad
 
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Serves: 6
Ingredients
  • ½ box (approximately 6 oz.) whole wheat penne pasta,
  • 12 oz. broccoli florets (approximately one head, chopped into florets)
  • ½ bag (approximately 5 oz.) matchstick carrots (you can buy carrots and julienne them yourself or be lazy like me and just buy the precut bags at the store…your call)
  • ½ cup light Italian dressing
  • ⅓ cup parmesan cheese
  • ⅓ cup cilantro, chopped
  • 1 tsp. crushed red pepper flake (more or less depending on preference)
  • sea salt and fresh ground pepper to taste.
Instructions
  1. Cook pasta al-dente according to package instructions. Two minutes before the pasta is done throw the broccoli and carrots into the boiling water.
  2. Drain pasta and veggies reserving about a ½ cup of starchy cooking water.
  3. While the pasta and the veggies are still in the colander, rinse with cold water for about 30 seconds to a minute to stop the cooking process and cool them slightly. Finish draining.
  4. Add pasta and veggies to a large mixing bowl and add about ¼ cup of the starchy cooking water to start (you might need to add more at the end but start with just a ¼ cup as you don’t want it to be too runny). You need the cooking water to help the sauce come together and stick to the pasta.
  5. Add the Italian dressing, parmesan cheese, cilantro, crushed red pepper flake, salt and pepper. Stir to combine throughly.
  6. Serve immediately, or chill slightly before serving.

Very Veggie Pasta Salad is a quick, simple and healthy side dish, lunch or snack recipe. No mayo means it's perfect for picnics, the lake, car trips & BBQ's.  It is best served best at room temperature as great accompaniment to anything you're putting on the grill.  | BeckysBestBites.com

Comments

    • Becky says

      Thanks Jessica!! I did take it for lunch and it didn’t leave me sluggish in the afternoons like a heavy lunch would 🙂

  16. Reginia Cordell says

    Becky, This veggie pasta salad looks delicious. With the warmer weathers approaching, this is light and easy for work lunches. I will definitely try this.

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