Summer Pasta Salad with fresh summer veges and balsamic vinaigrette, the perfect salad for lunches, as a side dish or to take to a summer BBQ or picnic!
In case you hadn't noticed there are a couple of trends happening around here at the moment. 1. Ice-cream. It's summer and we are ice-cream lovers around here. So much that when I order iced coffee from my favourite cafe and they ask at 9am if I'm ok with the fact that they use ice-cream in their iced coffee instead of ice cubes, I just give them the look. You know, the "I'm pregnant, do I look like I'm worried that you are force feeding me ice-cream at 9am?" look. It's great. And 2. Easy but substantial salads that are perfect as side dishes but also hold up perfectly as a main meal. So this summer pasta salad fits right into that category.
It's got big spiral pasta which is my favourite in a pasta salad, and then all of the best colourful summer veges - cherry tomatoes, cucumber, red & yellow pepper and feta of course. Not a vegetable, but still an essential in a salad. The dressing is simple - balsamic vinaigrette. You can make your own or use your favourite store bought dressing. But try the homemade one - it's a classic Laura throw all ingredients in a jar and shake up dressing. Yay!
This is the perfect salad to go on the side of burgers or chicken, on it's own for lunch or as a last minute what am I going to take to that potluck/BBQ salad. You can cut up the veges while the pasta is cooking and then once the pasta is cool (which you can speed up by running cold water over the drained pasta) throw it all together and it's good to go.
This summer pasta salad keeps really well in the fridge for a few days so I like to make it on a Sunday afternoon and have it for my lunches during the week. And to have on hand as an emergency side dish come dinner time! It's summery pasta perfection!
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Summer Pasta Salad
Ingredients
- 500 g dried pasta spirals
- 1 cup chopped cucumber
- 1 cup chopped red or yellow capsicums/ bell peppers
- 1 cup quartered cherry tomatoes
- 100 g chopped feta
- Fresh basil
- ¼ cup balsamic vinaigrette store-bought or homemade
Homemade balsamic vinaigrette
- ¼ cup olive oil
- 2 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
- ½ teaspoon dijon mustard
- ½ teaspoon crushed garlic
- Salt & pepper
Instructions
- Cook the pasta according to package directions until al dente. Drain and allow to cool.
- Add pasta and all chopped veges to a large salad bowl. Make the dressing by adding all dressing ingredients to a jar and shaking well to combine and pour over the salad or alternatively pour over store bought dressing. Mix together well.
- Top with feta & fresh basil.
- Refrigerate until ready to serve.
- Pasta salad will keep well in the fridge for 3-4 days.
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