Farfalle Pasta Salad

This easy Farfalle pasta salad w/ olive oil and vegetables is simple and quick to make. It is packed with fresh crunchy vegetables and a light homemade salad dressing. This pasta salad has fresh aromatics light taste with surprise salty olives. You make this delicious, nutritious pasta salad as a cold side to complete your dinner dish.

My beloved dill chicken recipe is baking away in the oven. Now I need a quick delicious side dish to go along with it. So I decided to go with our all-time favorite vegan veggies farfalle pasta in olive oil. It is easy to make and ready to serve the family in no time.

My kids love pasta of all sorts. So when dinner comes to the table along with a pasta side dish, they jump right onto the table without questioning :)) So, they are happy, and so am I because I know veggies are included in the pasta salad. And they get to eat it too!

This healthy vegan veggies farfalle pasta in olive oil side dish is served cold. Feel free to add any other ingredients or vegetables and even fruits your kids like.

The cuter the shape of the pasta, the more excited the kids will be!

Check out delicious nutritious main dishes that go well with this pasta salad:

• Best chicken kebabs in oven
• Gluten free sweet and sour chicken
• juicy extra lean ground beef burger patty

Ingredients

• Pasta; I used farfalle pasta. Any small-size pasta works here. Please read more in the post about how to prepare it.
• Tomatoes. Tomatoes always go with pasta.
• Cucumber. Adds lots of crunch and flavor.
• Olives. I used green olives.
• Onion. Optional. I recommend adding in fresh onion.
• Mint. Dry or fresh both work fine.
• Lemon juice. Adds acidity to the salad and helps to create a sauce for the salad.
• Olive oil. Adjust the amount to your preference.
• Salt & pepper to taste.
• Parsley or cilantro. For garnish.

How to Make Farfalle Pasta Salad

Follow along with my easy directions to see how to make farfalle pasta salad at home.

Prepare the pasta. Please read more in the post.

Prepare the vegetables by dicing them.

Add them all into a big bowl.

Add the rest of the ingredients.

Next, add the dressing (oil+ and lemon juice).

Season the salad with salt and pepper to taste.

At this point, taste to adjust the seasoning.

Serve it at room temperature.

ENJOY!

Tips

• To save time, let the pasta cook while chopping and preparing the other ingredients.
• Since this salad is served cold, cook the pasta well through.
• Feel free to adjust the amount of each ingredient.
• Use herbs as possible. This is an easy way to boost the dish’s flavor without adding more calories. Dry or fresh mint or peppermint goes so well in this recipe.
• Add a dash of your favorite spices: cumin, ginger, cayenne pepper …
• Use plain yogurt and not flavored or sweet ones. Plain whole milk yogurt makes pasta salad creamy and yet light. optional
• Add your favorite chopped vegetables or fruits.
• Toss in some toasted or soaked chopped nuts or seeds.

Substitutes

• Substitute pasta with couscous pasta, quinoa pasta, or orzo. Or make it low carb/calorie and use cauliflower or broccoli rice, spaghetti squash, cabbage noddle, zucchini noddle, lentil pasta, and chickpea pasta. Make it gluten-free and use rice pasta or substitute pasta with starchy vegetables such as potatoes, corn, peas, winter squash, carrots, beets, or sweet potatoes.
• Use fresh fruits like strawberries, mangoes, peaches, cherries, etc., instead of tomatoes. Or skip tomatoes entirely.
• Substitute cucumber with bell pepper, radish, celery, and fennel, or leave it out.
• Use capers, pickled cucumbers, onion, peppers, or other pickled vegetables instead of olives.
• Substitute onion with leeks, shallots, garlic, chives, green onion, celery, fennel, or carrots.
• Oregano, thyme, basil, dill, and rosemary are great options.
• Substitute lemon juice with lime or orange juice. White vinegar or apple cider is fine too.
• Use spices such as cumin, ginger, chili powder, etc.
• Substitute oil with plain yogurt. Sour cream, milk kefir, feta cheese, cream cheese, or cottage cheese are great substitutes for plain whole-milk yogurt. Or use dairy-free yogurt and cheese to make vegan pasta salad.
  • Or substitute yogurt with nut butter like peanut butter, cashew butter, almond butter, etc. Tahini (sesame seeds butter) and other seeds butter are great options for making it vegan.
• Add in some crunchy toasted or soaked nuts or seeds.

Variations

• Toss the cooked pasta in your favorite leafy green kale spinach salad.
• Add cooked pasta to egg, avocado, or tuna salad.
• Use them in chickpea salad or potato salad.
• Toss them even into a fruit salad.

Storage and reheat

Store this vegan farfalle pasta salad in an airtight container in the fridge for 3 days. Serve them right out of the fridge.

What to serve with it

• Serve it with oven-roasted or grilled salmon fillet(my favorite), steak, or chicken.
• It goes well with casserole, stews, or skillet main dishes.
• Serve it with hard-boiled eggs or scrambled eggs for lunch or brunch.
• I served it with my scrumptious dill chicken recipe recipe.

How to prepare pasta

Any small pasta works. Depending on the type of pasta you are using, the instructions are most often provided on the back of the pasta package.

1. As a general rule, for 1/2 lb of small wheat pasta, bring 2 quarts of water to rapid boiling in a large pot and season it to taste with salt and pepper.
2. Add the pasta to the boiling water and cook for about 8-12 minutes. Since pasta salad is served cold, ensure the pasta is cooked thoroughly. To be sure, take one pasta out of the pot in the middle of cooking, run it through cold tap water, and bite it. If there is no dryness inside and the pasta is soft inside, it is done!
3. Drain the pasta and let it cool.
4. Then, add the rest of the ingredients.

How to season pasta

Season it with a delicious, nutritious salad dressing while the pasta is hot. A nice light, tangy dressing is a must to make pasta salad taste amazing. So use olive oil and mix it with fresh lemon or lime juice. Add herbs such as mint, oregano, thyme, basil, dill, and rosemary. Add some crunchy nuts or seeds—season with salt and pepper. When the pasta is cool, add the chopped vegetables or fruits of your choice and serve.

Whole milk yogurt +vinegar+ mint is another excellent pasta salad dressing sauce.

What did you substitute? How did your family and kids like it? Let me know in the comment below your favorite combination. I love to hear from you!

Check out delicious nutritious main dishes that go well with this pasta salad:

• Best chicken kebabs in oven
• Juicy extra lean ground beef burger patty

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