Pasta Salad: Your New Best Friend for Summertime Meals

Author:
Linda Lum
Updated date:
Dec 10, 2019

Linda explores food facts, folklore, and fabulous recipes, one ingredient at a time.

Pasta salads can easily be turned into a main dish
Pixabay

How to Build a Better Pasta Salad

There are so many ways to make pasta salad. Why do we always resort to the boring (and calorie-laden) standard of elbow macaroni with chopped dill pickle and an over-abundance of full-fat mayonnaise?

There are so many much more imaginative ways to make a pasta salad; let’s look at the basic ingredients, as well as at possible ways to combine them.

The Pasta

Two words—whole grain. No, please don’t run away! Whole grain pasta made today are not the gummy cardboard-tasting kinds of pasta of just a few years ago. Give it a try, and consider these interesting shapes:

shell
penne
tortellini
farfalle
orecchiette
cavatappi
rotelle

pasta-salad-your-new-best-friend-for-summertime-meals — Pixabay

Vegetables

The choices are almost endless. Use the “already washed/diced/chopped” vegetables in plastic-wrapped containers if you are running short of time.

arugula
artichoke hearts (canned/rinsed/drained or frozen/thawed)
avocado, diced
baby bok choy
broccoli florets, blanched
carrot, grated
celery, diced
green beans, blanched and sliced
green onion, sliced
mushrooms, sliced
red onion, diced
peas, fresh or frozen/thawed
peppers (red, orange, yellow, or green), diced
spinach, fresh
tomatoes, chopped
zucchini, diced

Protein

Adding protein to a salad transforms your side dish into a hearty main dish meal.

beans (black, cannellini, garbanzo, kidney), rinsed and drained
canned tuna, water- or oil-packed, drained
cheese, diced or crumbled
cooked bacon, cooked and diced
cooked chicken, diced
cooked crab, diced or shredded
cooked ham, diced
cooked shrimp
cooked turkey, diced
hard-boiled eggs, chopped
prosciutto
salami
smoked salmon

Yummy Add-Ins

Invigorate your salad with these little pops of flavor:

capers
dried cranberries
dried raisins
minced fresh basil leaves
minced fresh cilantro
minced fresh flat-leaf parsley
minced fresh rosemary leaves
olives (black, green, kalamata), rinsed and chopped
jarred roasted red bell pepper, rinsed, drained, and chopped
sun-dried tomatoes
walnuts, chopped

Dressing

Bottled salad dressing is convenient but high in sodium and often full of preservatives. Making your own is so very easy. Here are two simple recipes.

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Greek Salad

Pasta: 4 cups cooked farfalle (bowtie) pasta
Veggies: 1 cup diced tomato, 1 cup diced cucumber, 1/2 cup chopped artichoke heart
Protein: 1/2 to 1 cup feta cheese
Yummy add-ins: 1/2 cup sliced kalamata olives, 1/4 cup minced fresh flat-leaf parsley
Vinaigrette dressing

Smoked Salmon and Roasted Red Pepper

Pasta: 4 cups cooked penne
Veggies: 1 cup roasted red pepper, 1 cup sliced mushrooms
Protein: 1/2 cup flaked smoked salmon
Yummy add-ins: 1/4 cup minced fresh flat-leaf parsley
Vinaigrette dressing

Chicken-Rosemary Pasta Salad

Pasta: 4 cups cooked farfalle (bow-tie) pasta
Veggies: 1 cup celery, diced
Protein: 2 cups diced cooked chicken
Yummy add-ins: 1/2 cup dried cranberries, 2 tablespoons fresh minced rosemary, 1 cup chopped walnuts
Creamy salad dressing

Ham and Swiss Pasta Salad

Pasta: 4 cups cooked rotini
Veggies: 1 cup fresh (or frozen, defrosted) green peas, 1/2 cup diced red onion
Protein: 1 1/2 cups diced cooked ham
Yummy add-ins: 1 cup diced Swiss cheese
Creamy salad dressing

BLT Pasta Salad

Pasta: 4 cups cooked fusilli pasta
Veggies: 1 cup diced fresh tomato, 1 diced avocado, 2 cups fresh spinach leaves
Protein: 1/2 cup crisp cooked bacon, diced
Yummy add-ins: 1/2 cup sun-dried tomatoes, 1/2 cup minced flat-leaf parsley
Creamy Salad Dressing