Pasta Vegetable Salad
Servings: 6
Ingredients
- 8 oz bowtie pasta
- 1 pint cherry tomatoes halved
- ½ red bell pepper julienned
- 1 small zucchini about 8 oz, sliced
- 1 corn cob corn cut off the cob, approximately ¾ - 1 cup
- 1 small shallot sliced
- salt ground black pepper to taste
- 1 Tablespoon fresh parsley minced
- Vinaigrette:
- ¼ cup olive oil
- 1 - 1 ½ Tablespoons red wine vinegar
- 1 garlic clove minced
- ½ Tablespoon dry herbs such as Italian seasoning or chicken seasoning
Instructions
- Cook the pasta until it's is cooked the way you like to eat it. Drain it and immediately wash it with cold water or put it quickly in an ice bath, just to stop the cooking process. Drain the pasta from the cold water and place it into a large bowl.
- While the pasta is cooking, I usually prep the veggies.
- Add the veggies to the same bowl with the pasta and mix to combine.
- Whisk all the vinaigrette ingredients together in a medium bowl.
- Pour into the pasta and mix to combine. Season with salt and ground black pepper.
- You can eat the salad immediately, but the flavors will be a lot more concentrated if you let the salad stand in the refrigerator for a few hours. At this point, you might want to add more oil, vinegar, spices, etc. Serve the salad cold or at room temperature.
Notes
Yes, you can use canned corn instead of fresh corn, but it will not be as sweet and crunchy. You can also use regular tomatoes and chop them, but the salad will not stay fresh very long. It's just fine if you serve it right away.
You can also add some cooked chicken to the salad.
If you don't eat the salad within a few hours, I always like to freshen it up with a bit more olive oil, red wine vinegar and dry herbs. Since the pasta will absorb the vinaigrette as it stands, it's best to add more later so it doesn't taste too dry.
