Lemon Veggie Pasta Salad

big batch meal — difficulty: level 2

the Salad of the Summer?

This Veggie-filled, cold Pasta Salad will knock your Crocs off, friends. Tomatoes! Cucumber! Olives! Pepperoncinis! It’s so good!!!

Besides Smoothies, this is one of the best hot weather meals. It’s served cold, it doesn't heat up your whole house to make, and it’s loaded with Veggies.

I've been keeping a few full containers of this in the fridge to enjoy throughout the week and it’s quickly become my new fav big-batch meal.

Add + adjust Spices, Veggies, and Herbs to your heart's desire. The measurements are just suggestions. Find my fav Flavor Boosters in the notes section below.

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[Makes: ~10 cups Pasta Salad]

Ingredients

1 box Spiral, Bow Tie, or Penne Pasta*

Water and Salt
(for boiling Pasta)

1/2 x Red Onion

1/2 x Cucumber

1 pint Lil Tomatoes

1 cup Kalamata Olives

3/4 cup Sliced Pepperoncinis

1/4 cup Lemon Juice
(~1x small Lemon)

1/4 cup Oil
(I like Olive or Safflower)

1 tbsp Brown Mustard

2 tsp dried Oregano

1 tsp Salt

1 tsp Sugar (optional)

Black Pepper, to taste

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Equipment

Large Soup Pot with Lid

Cutting Board

Sharp Knife

Large Tupperware Container(s)

Measuring Cups + Spoons

Citrus Juicer (optional)

Strainer

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Instructions

1. Gather your ingredients!

2. Boil Water and Salt in the large pot (lid on).

3. Meanwhile, roughly dice your Onion, Cucumber, Tomatoes, and Kalamata Olives into small pieces. If you have whole Pepperoncinis, dice those too. Place diced Veggies into Tupperware containers as you go.

4. When Water is boiling, cook Pasta according to package instructions (~7 minutes). Set a timer!!

5. Juice your Lemon, if using fresh.

6. Add Lemon Juice, Oil, Mustard, Oregano, Salt, and Sugar to the container holding your Veggies.

7. When your timer goes off, pour Pasta into the strainer and rinse with cool water until room temp. Rinse the large pot with cold water, too.

8. Once the pot is cool-to-touch, add the Veggies and Pasta back in and stir to mix everything together. Taste and add Black Pepper.

9. And that's it! Scoop your Pasta Salad back into storage containers and chill in the fridge for a few hours, or dish yourself a bowl right away! Enjoy!

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Notes

• * You can use any kind of Pasta, but I find the varieties listed are my favs. Dice your Veggies even smaller if using a v small Pasta, like Elbows.

• You could skip the Pasta altogether and just eat this as a Veggie Salad.

• Flavor Boosters

  • Use fresh Oregano instead of dry and add fresh Parsley or Basil

  • Add 3/4 cup Marinated Artichoke Hearts in Oil

  • Add 1/2 tsp Dried Chili Flakes or Garlic Powder

  • Add 1 can drained + rinsed Garbanzo Beans

  • Swap Kalamata Olives for Black Olives

  • Swap Red Onions for Green Onions

• As always, don't forget to Salt your pasta-boiling Water till it's salty as the sea!!

anyone want more low-heat meals?

We're creeping into the heat of the summer in the PNW and I, for one, am not trying to turn my oven on each day. My west-facing windows and terrible old-home insulation keep my room a solid 15 degrees warmer than the rest of the house (which doesn't have air conditioning). So, I'm very intentional about what appliances I use.

Since everyone is experiencing record-high temps as the new normal, I figure it's time to start building up the filling, low-heat, no-stove, recipe book.

Lemme know what kinds of meals you'd like to see in the comments below!

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