Healthy Vegan Pasta Salad
With vibrant Mediterranean flavors and a bright lemony dressing, this crowd-pleasing pasta salad is sure to be a hit at your next picnic!
Ingredients
Dressing
- 2½ tablespoons red wine vinegar
- 2 tablespoons nutritional yeast
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice (juice of about 1 medium lemon)
- 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon dried basil
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
Salad
- 8 ounces chickpea or whole-grain short pasta (e.g., rotini, penne, farfalle)
- 8 ounces grape tomatoes halved or quartered
- 1½ cups English cucumber diced (about half a large cucumber)
- ½ cup canned artichoke hearts drained and roughly chopped
- ⅓ cup pitted Kalamata olives sliced in half if large
- ⅓ cup red onion diced
Instructions
- Make the pasta: Cook the pasta according to package instructions. When the pasta is done cooking, drain it in a colander and rinse it under cold water until chilled.
- Make the dressing: While the pasta is cooking, in a large bowl, whisk the red wine vinegar, nutritional yeast, lemon juice, Dijon mustard, garlic powder, dried basil, and dried oregano until combined.
- Marinate the toppings: Add the tomatoes, cucumber, artichoke hearts, olives, and red onion to the large bowl. Stir until coated with the dressing. Let sit for at least 10 minutes to marinate, stirring occasionally.
- Add the pasta: Add the pasta to the large bowl and stir well to combine. Serve at room temperature or, ideally, chilled (see Note).
Notes
- Leftovers will keep well in the fridge for about 3 days.
- If you have time, make this in salad in advance and let it chill in the fridge for a few hours before serving. The ingredients will soak up the dressing and make the salad even more flavorful.
- For extra protein, stir in some cannellini beans or cubed tofu; both work well in this dish.