The Best Pasta Salad Recipe
Servings: 1 big bowl full
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup raw apple cider vinegar
- 1/2 cup olive oil
- 1/4 cup sesame oil
- 1/4 cup soy sauce or tamari
- 1/4 to 1/2 cup palm or coconut sugar this is cut back from original recipe which called for 3/4 cup
- 1 Tablespoon fresh herbs: fresh or dried parsley and/or cilantro
- 1/4-1/2 teaspoon pepper more if desired
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
- 1-2 teaspoons garlic powder I like a lot
- 1 pound pasta cooked -- I use mostly einkorn pasta now for the fam, and I make mine without pasta, it's still so good!
- 1-2 chopped peppers I like using all different colors. it makes it tasty and pretty!
- 1/2 chopped sweet onion or handful chopped green onion
- 1-2 tomatoes diced
- 1 cup cheddar or Parmesan cheese shredded
- More options, as much as you'd like: cucumbers, broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, celery, see below for more ideas chopped
- 1-2 cups cooked chicken, optional
Instructions
- Mix together vinegar, oils, soy sauce, sugar, herbs, pepper, garlic powder and salt and chill while you boil the pasta and do the chopping of all your veggies. Once the pasta is done, drain and allow to cool a bit. Then in a large bowl, or the pot you just boiled the pasta in, add your pasta and the dressing you've had in the fridge, your chopped veggies and cheese and toss well to make sure all the pasta and veggies get coated with dressing. Serve cold. (This makes a delicious main dish meal if you add some leftover cooked chicken to it).
Notes
More possible additions to the above that I've found or tried recently:
- To make this lower in carbs, just make a veggie salad without the pasta, it's delicious!
- 1/4 cup toasted sesame seeds
- 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger for more of an Asian taste
- Sliced black olives
- Hard-boiled eggs, chopped
- Soft mozzarella cheese
- Pieces of salami or summer sausage (go here if you don't have a local source for safe meat options)
- For a more traditional macaroni salad, use mustard, mayo, lemon juice, and salt & pepper
- Be creative!