Veggie Pasta Salad
EVENT: SUNDAY FUNDAY
THEME: MAIN COURSE SALADS
RECIPE: VEGGIE PASTA SALAD
Veggie Pasta Salad is a warm, healthy, filling and delicious salad that can be enjoyed as a meal on its own. Loaded with veggies, one can use any vegetables of their choice. Addition of your favourite dressing or just lemon juice makes this salad a medley of flavours.
What Is A Main Course Salad?
Generally, a main course salad is a hearty, filling salad and usually has a protein rich ingredient added to it. It can any meat or sea food. For vegetarian version one can add tofu, paneer, beans, cheese,etc. The salad is enjoyed as a main meal, either for lunch or dinner.
Bearing that in mind, I usually add paneer, tofu , beans or chickpeas to my Veggie Pasta Salad. Vegetables used usually depends on what I have at hand. I prefer to use vegetables which can be stir fried without going all soggy.
Some Main Course Salads That You May Like
I love salads and often that is what I like to have for lunch. Depending on the weather, the salad is either cold or warm. Mostly make cold whenever I am in Kenya or India. However, I am experiencing my first ever proper winter in Canada, yes with all the snow and chilly winds and slushy ice. Towards the end of Fall, temperatures dropped and for a week or so salads went out of the window.
I realized that we cannot go through the whole winter season without having salads. So more often than not, it tends to be warm comforting salads. And Veggie Pasta Salad is one of them.
SUNDAY FUNDAY
Sunday Funday is a group of Food Bloggers. Every Sunday we share some fun, traditional, hearty or easy recipes to make Sunday Family Meals a bit more exciting. To join this fun group, visit the Sunday Funday Facebook Page. Request to join in.
Theme: Start The New Year Off Right With Main Course Salads
With a New Year just begun, aptly, Wendy Klik who blogs at A Day In The Life On The Farm suggested we start the year off right with Main Course Salads.
Health and Us
As we all approach the New Year majority of us make a promise to eat healthy, get some exercise and lose weight. 2022 is no different as far as I am concerned, as every year I promise to be healthier. Over time I may have not lost much weight but have been making a conscious effort to eat more wholesome healthier meals. Towards the last half of 2021 also got more steps in as hubby and I made a vow to walk daily. Salads and vegetable sides are very much a part of our daily diet.
Check Out Main Course Salads by Members of Sunday Funday
- A Day in the Life on the Farm: Asian Chicken Ginger Salad.
- Sneha’s Recipe: Chicken Pasta Caesar Salad
- Palatable Pastime: Crispy Shell Chicken Taco Salad
- Karen’s Kitchen Stories: Italian Chopped Salad
- Amy’s Cooking Adventures: Oriental Chicken Salad
- Food Lust People Love: Roasted Tomato Vinaigrette Steak Salad
- Our Good Life: Spinach Salad with Creamy Hard Boiled Egg and Homemade Garlic Croutons
- Mayuri’s Jikoni: Veggie Pasta Salad
Ingredients Required For Veggie Pasta Salad
- Boiled Pasta – any of your choice. I sometimes like to use spaghetti.
- Onion – red, white or yellow, peeled and cut into chunks.
- Bell Pepper – any colour of your choice.
- Zucchini – also known as courgette. Or use any squash or your choice.
- Garlic – peeled and sliced. Use according to your taste.
- Beans – I usually use any beans that I have at hand. Sometimes I add chickpeas.
- Carrots – peeled and cut into slices. I have used rainbow carrot
- Tomatoes – usually I prefer to use baby tomatoes. Also known as cherry, plum or cocktail tomatoes.
- Fresh Herb – any of your choice. Use whatever you have at hand.
- Dried Mixed Herbs
- Salt – add according to your taste. I like to use Himalayan Pink Salt.
- Pepper – add according to your choice.
- Olives – sliced or whole. Any type.
- Olive Oil – to stir fry the vegetables
- Salad Dressing or Lemon Juice – I could not resist opening a Maple Vinaigrette bottle that I received as a gift.
- Chilli Flakes – optional
- Cheese – optional. I have used shredded cheddar cheese. Use any cheese of your choice like parmesan, feta, brie.
Watch How To Make Veggie Pasta Salad
VEGGIE PASTA SALAD
Ingredients
- 1 cup pasta uncooked
- ½ tsp salt for the pasta
- 1 medium onion
- 4 cloves garlic
- ½ bell pepper any colour
- 1 medium zucchini
- 1 large carrot
- 1 cup beans cooked
- ¼ cup olive slices
- 12 baby tomatoes
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- ½ tsp salt for the salad
- ½ tsp pepper powder
- 1 tbsp thyme leaves
- 1 tsp mixed herbs dried
- ¼ tsp chilli flakes
To Serve:
- 2 tbsp salad dressing or lemon juice
- some cheese any of your choice.
Instructions
BOIL THE PASTA:
- Bring to boil about 4 cups of water in a saucepan over medium heat.
- Add the pasta and ½ tsp salt.
- Cook the pasta till it is al dente. Usually the cooking time is indicated on the packet.
- Drain out the pasta into a colander.
- Get the vegetables ready for the salad.
- Peel and cut the onion into chunks.
- Peel and slice the garlic.
- Peel and cut carrot into slices that are not too thick or thin.
- Cut the bell pepper into half. Remove the seeds. Cut into bite size chunks.
- Cut the tomatoes into halves.
- Trim the ends of the zucchini. Cut into slices that are not too thick or thin.
PREPARATION OF THE SALAD:
- Heat oil in a wide pan over medium to high heat.
- Add onion and garlic and stir fry for 30 seconds.
- Add carrots and stir fry for 30 seconds.
- Add zucchini and bell pepper. Add salt. Stir fry for 1 minute.
- Add the cooked beans, pasta, herbs, pepper powder, chilli flakes. Mix well.
- Allow the salad to get warm for 1 minute.
- Add salad dressing or lemon juice. Mix well. Add cheese and serve immediately.
Notes
- Add any vegetables of your choice like cauliflower, broccoli, mushrooms, baby corn, French beans, etc
- Use any fresh herbs of your choice. If you don't have any then use dried herbs.
- Don't over cook the vegetables. You want them to be crunchy and juicy.
- Add olives of your choice.
- I used cheddar cheese, you can use feta, parmesan, brie, etc.
Pin For Later:
A little request:
If you do try this recipe then please either
- add a comment below,
- send a picture to my email mayuri.ajay.patel62@gmail.com
- tag me as #mayuri_jikoni on Instagramor tag me on Twitter as #Mayuri1962
26 Comments
Wendy Klik
January 2, 2022 at 8:20 am
This has my stomach grumbling, it looks wonderful. Happy New Year Mayuri.
mayurisjikoni
January 3, 2022 at 9:45 pm
Thank you so much Wendy.
Karen @Karen’s Kitchen Stories
January 2, 2022 at 2:16 pm
That sounds delicious! Good luck with your first Canadian winter!!
mayurisjikoni
January 3, 2022 at 9:44 pm
Thank you so much Karen.
Stacy
January 2, 2022 at 4:01 pm
Your salad looks colorful and delicious, Mayuri! I’d love a bowl of that any time of the year.
mayurisjikoni
January 3, 2022 at 9:42 pm
Thank you so much Stacy.
Sneha Datar
January 3, 2022 at 5:36 am
This sounds delicious Mayuri. Happy New Year to you and your family!
mayurisjikoni
January 3, 2022 at 9:41 pm
Thank you so much Sneha, and same to you
Vandana
January 17, 2022 at 12:47 pm
Thanks for this recipe, I keep on looking for warm salad recipes that I can enjoy during winters. Your pasta salad looks so delicious and comforting, will definitely try it.
mayurisjikoni
January 17, 2022 at 1:12 pm
Thank you so much Vandana. Enjoy the salad when you try out the recipe.
Pavani
January 17, 2022 at 3:13 pm
This is such a hearty, colorful and delicious pasta salad. Warm salads are perfect for the chilly weather and I can’t wait to try this one soon.
mayurisjikoni
January 19, 2022 at 2:49 pm
Thank you so much Pavani. The weather is perfect for such salads so go ahead and enjoy it.
Neha
January 19, 2022 at 2:43 pm
Loved the combination of colorful veggies in this Veggie Pasta Salad. Nothing can be more gratifying than a plate of salad. It removes all of your guilt from the heavier foods we consumed earlier. Great post
mayurisjikoni
January 20, 2022 at 1:19 pm
That is so true Neha. Like pasta salad as it is a guilt free way of enjoying a bit of pasta.
Hayley Dhanecha
January 20, 2022 at 5:34 am
Veggie pasta salad is a brilliant recipe, it is my favourite lunch item. I use whatever in the season. So comforting and hassle-free recipe that I love the most.
mayurisjikoni
January 20, 2022 at 1:17 pm
You’re so right Hayley, pasta salad is so versatile.
Seema Sriram
January 24, 2022 at 3:43 am
This veggie pasta with all the colours sounds really exciting. We will soon have autumn coming and this will be lovely to have.
mayurisjikoni
January 25, 2022 at 5:49 pm
Thanks Seema and enjoy when you make it.
Kalyani
March 21, 2022 at 12:23 am
this pasta salad loaded with veggie looks sooooo delish, I have almost all the veggies at home incl the same conch/ shell shaped paste. my little one would be so happy to see this in the snackbox or for dinner!
mayurisjikoni
March 21, 2022 at 5:19 pm
Thanks Kalyani, enjoy the salad.
Jayashree T.Rao
March 21, 2022 at 3:22 am
Warm Pasta Salad looks colourful and makes a good lunch option. I too love these kind of salads.
mayurisjikoni
March 21, 2022 at 5:16 pm
Thanks Jayashree, give the recipe a try. Easy and filling too.
Priya Vj
March 24, 2022 at 4:54 am
Pasta salad with veggies is so versatile..we can almost use all salad vegetables in this salad and it wil make a delightful meal by itself..sounds like a perfect starter also for parties or potluck luncheons.
mayurisjikoni
March 24, 2022 at 6:21 am
Thank you Priya, yes that is what I like about pasta salads, that one can add any vegetables to it.
Preethi Prasad
March 24, 2022 at 7:39 am
Veggie pasta salad sounds like a wholesome nutritious meal .Lovely riot of colours . I would love to try as I have all the ingredients at home .
mayurisjikoni
March 24, 2022 at 9:22 pm
Thank you so much Preethi. Hope you enjoy the salad when you make it.