Vegan Healthy Pasta Salad

This light, summery pasta salad makes the perfect healthy lunch or potluck meal. It's packed with veggies, and great for those adhering to a vegan and/or gluten-free diet!

I love salads that don't have lettuce.

I love salads that do have lettuce.

I don't discriminate when it comes to leafy greens. To be frank, I haven't met many salads I don't like (except the ones that skimp on the dressing or are held together with mayonnaise and resemble a salad about as much as my left sock).

This, my dear frands, is a lettuce-less salad chock full of a gazillion veggies other than lettuce. After all, it is not the lettuce that makes the salad, but the salad that makes the lettuce.

What?

Summer is all about eating all the food outdoors, and this is the healthy potluck salad of your dreams right here. Noodle dishes tend to make people feel heavy, but let me assure you...that isn't this.

It's kind of like a shiz ton of crisp flavorful veggies with a side of pasta. The pasta is not quite an afterthought, but not the star here, either.

If you're serving hangry carnivores, you could totally add grilled chicken or shrimp. Toss in a can of chickpeas if you're an herbivore looking to make this a full meal!

I hope you like it so much you wanna marry it.

Healthy Pasta Salad

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• Author: Alexis Joseph | Hummusapien
• Prep Time: 10 min
• Cook Time: 10 min
• Total Time: 20 minutes
• Yield: 6 1x
• Category: Side Dish
• Method: Stovetop

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Description

This light, summery pasta salad makes the perfect healthy lunch or potluck meal. It's packed with veggies, and great for those adhering to a vegan and/or gluten-free diet!

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Ingredients

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For the salad:

• 8oz pasta shells of choice (gluten-free if necessary)
• ¾ cup shredded carrots
• 1 red bell pepper, chopped
• 1 small to medium cucumber, de-seeded and chopped
• 1 large tomato, chopped
• ⅓ cup chopped green onions
• ⅓ cup kalamata olives, chopped

For the dressing:

• 2 ½ tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 3 tbsp red wine vinegar
• 3 tbsp chopped basil
• ½ tsp minced garlic
• ½ tsp sugar
• 1 tsp salt (or to taste)
• ½ tsp oregano
• Freshly ground black pepper

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Instructions

1. Cook pasta according to package directions.
2. Whisk or blend together dressing ingredients.
3. Drain pasta, rinse with cold water, and then dump into a large bowl.
4. Add the rest of the ingredients including dressing, tossing to combine. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

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