Italian-Inspired Pasta Salad
Ready in less than 15 minutes. This wholesome pasta salad is bursting with Mediterranean flavors. Everyone is going to love this simple, nourishing and delicious vegan salad.
Ingredients
SALAD:
- 7 oz or 200 grams whole-wheat or gluten-free pasta – I used fusilli
- 1 15 oz can chickpeas or your favorite white beans, drained and rinsed (about 1 ½ of cooked chickpeas)
- ½ cup canned artichoke hearts, drained, then chopped
- ½ cup sun-dried tomatoes, rehydrated, then finely chopped*
- ½ cup pitted black olives, finely chopped
- ¼ cup toasted almonds, roughly chopped**
- ½ small red onion, thinly sliced***
- Sea salt and pepper to taste
DRESSING:
- ¼ cup good quality extra virgin olive oil
- ⅓ cup fresh parsley, finely chopped
- ¼ cup fresh dill, finely copped
- 1 Tbsp capers, minced
- 1 Tbsp lemon juice
- 1 tsp lemon zest, tightly packed
- 1 garlic clove, minced
- ½ tsp chili flakes
Instructions
- Cook the pasta according to instructions. Drain and let cool.
- While the pasta is cooking prepare the rest of the ingredients and make the dressing. Add all dressing ingredients to a small bowl and whisk to combine.
- Once the pasta is cooked, add it to a big bowl with the rest of the salad ingredients: chickpeas, artichokes, sun-dried tomatoes, olives, almonds, red onion and sea salt and pepper to taste. Drizzle with the olive oil dressing and toss to combine.
- Enjoy this hearty salad!
Notes
*You can use jarred sun-dried tomatoes. Then you won’t have to rehydrate them.
** To roast the almonds, preheat the oven to 350 °F / 180 °C. Place the almonds on a baking sheet (no oil) and roast in the oven for 8 - 10 minutes, until golden and fragrant. Remove and let cool.
*** I don’t like the strong taste of raw onions, so I place the sliced onions in a small bowl and cover them with boiling water. After ten minutes, I drain and rinse the onions with cold water. Bye-bye pungent taste, hello delicious mild flavor.
** To roast the almonds, preheat the oven to 350 °F / 180 °C. Place the almonds on a baking sheet (no oil) and roast in the oven for 8 - 10 minutes, until golden and fragrant. Remove and let cool.
*** I don’t like the strong taste of raw onions, so I place the sliced onions in a small bowl and cover them with boiling water. After ten minutes, I drain and rinse the onions with cold water. Bye-bye pungent taste, hello delicious mild flavor.