When my mother visited a few weeks ago, I made my typical pasta salad. Pasta salads are perfect for guests who arrive after air travel, especially when you’re not exactly sure whether they will be early or late. The salad improves with age, and you’ve long since cleaned up after preparing it. All you have to do is pull it out of the refrigerator, and dinner is ready.
 
So, I knew I wanted to make another pasta salad when my boyfriend’s sister arrived this past week. But I get tired of the same recipe (as much as I love it), so I omitted the olives and mozarella. And I added chick peas and asparagus. The result was a fresh and cool salad that was filling enough to be lunch on its own. We ate it the second time with melon. Yum!
 
Vegan Pasta Salad with Asparagus and Chick Peas
1 8-oz. box gluten-free shell pasta (I prefer Ancient Harvest)
1/2 bunch broccoli, separated into flowerets/bite-sized pieces
3 carrots, sliced in 1/4-inch rounds
1 lb. asparagus, sliced
1 small to medium red onion, chopped
Pepper to taste (do not salt as it will make vegetables lose moisture)
Viniagrette dressing
Parmesan cheese, grated (optional)
 
Cook shells. Drain. Cool shells by running cold water over them. Drain thoroughly. Set aside in a large bowl. Refrigerate while preparing vegetables.
 
Remove woody ends from asparagus by clasping them in bunches with two hands and snapping them. The woody parts will break off. Discard them. Then, separately steam or microwave with a little water the broccoli (5 minutes), carrots (5 minutes), and asparagus (3 minutes). Drain each vegetable, and allow to cool. Add to pasta along with red onion and pepper. After mixing, toss with dressing, and allow to chill at least several hours for flavors to blend. Yield: 6-7 large servings or more side salads. Keeps about 5 days.
 
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There was only a small amount that remained today, so I added it to raw salad of broccoli, radishes, green onions, and Kalamata olives. Feta and Parmesan topped my salad, but my boyfriend ejoyed his vegan.
 
This is an easy salad that you can double to feed a crowd. It’s great at a potluck or for a picnic. Get creative by adding some of your favorite ingredients.

If you read my blog about tostadas a few weeks ago, you’ll know what I mean by a “mix-and-match” meal. It’s one in which there is a basic foundation, with a number of possible ingredients that can be added based on inclination and food sensitivities. I’ve made pasta salad this way, when there are guests. But this week, I made it the way I like it, with the ingredients I can eat, of course.

Pasta Salad

1 8-oz. package gluten-free shell pasta (I like Ancient Harvest® quinoa pasta)
1 bunch broccoli, flowerets only
3 carrots, sliced
1 medium red onion, chopped
1/2 can pitted black olives, sliced
6 oz. mozzarella cheese, cubed small (about 1/4")
gluten-free turkey pepperoni (I like Hormel®)
Italian dressing
Parmesan cheese

(Other possible ingredients: bell pepper, chopped; cauliflower flowerets, steamed. Or, boil a chicken and then cook the pasta in the remaining broth; add chopped chicken to pasta salad.)

Cook pasta in water or broth. Drain, running cool water over pasta; drain again. Set aside in a very large bowl, needed for proper mixing. Steam broccoli; drain and cool. Steam carrots; drain and cool. Add cool ingredients to the pasta, tossing with dressing and Parmesan cheese. Do NOT salt and pepper. Chill before serving. Best when flavors have time to blend for several hours or over night. Yield: 5-6 large servings or 10-12 side salads.

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When making this for my family, we put the cheeses in a separate bowl (as my sister is allergic), as we did the olives (some don’t like olives), the pepperoni (for my vegetarian son), and the peppers (as I can’t eat them).

To make this into a vegetarian meal, omit all meat and meat broth; for a vegan salad, also omit both types of cheese and be sure to check all ingredients in the salad dressing.

I enjoyed this salad for dinner, with nothing to accompany it. I also gave away servings to friends—both those who have to eat gluten-free and those who don’t. Everyone was happy.