Summertime Pasta Salad
It has been a hot minute since I’ve done a food blog - but fear not, because as you can see, I’m back with a new recipe for you! While I know it’s almost September (yay!!!), it is in fact, still summer, much to my dismay, and this pasta salad is a simple and yummy side dish to enjoy alongside your burgers at a barbecue, or if you’re like me & can survive solely on carbs, you can even enjoy this as a main dish, and if you’re not vegetarian, you can very easily add in some chicken or other meat as protein.
If you’re new here, I’ll give you a fair warning that I’m definitely not someone who measures out stuff when I cook. I usually just take into consideration how many people I’m cooking for, and go from there, so I’m sorry in advance if you’re hoping for measurements, you aren’t going to find them here! My general rule is always start small, add more if you need to!
Summertime Pasta Salad
Ingredients for the Pasta
- Pasta of choice
- Cherry tomatoes, halved
- Mini cucumbers, quartered
- Red onion, diced
- 2-3 cloves of garlic, minced
- Crumbled feta cheese
Ingredients for the Dressing
- Extra virgin olive oil
- Juice of 1 lemon
- Red wine vinegar
- Fresh parsley, chopped
- Fresh basil, chopped + some for garnish
- Salt & pepper to taste
Directions
- Using a large pot, cook pasta al dente according to box instructions. While pasta is cooking, chop cherry tomatoes, mini cucumbers, red onion, garlic cloves, parsley & basil, keeping some for garnish, and place it on the side. Also chop up feta cheese if you purchased it in a brick, and not pre-crumbled. When pasta is done cooking, drain, rinse with cold water (to cool down the pasta) & transfer pasta to a large serving bowl (slightly larger than you think you’ll need).
- In a mason jar, or any jar with a tight seal, combine your olive oil, lemon juice & red wine vinegar to taste; shake vigorously until well combined. When well combined, pour the liquid over pasta, add in the chopped herbs, vegetables, crumbled feta cheese, salt & pepper and toss until pasta is well coated & vegetables are equally mixed in. Garnish the serving bowl with some whole basil leaves on top. Place in the fridge for a few hours to get the pasta salad nice and cold.
- After a few hours have passed, toss the pasta salad again to make sure there are no dry pieces of pasta & everything is well coated again. Serve & enjoy!
With the season winding down, and the last long weekend of the summer coming up, this would make for the perfect dish to enjoy with those in your bubble for a Labour Day barbecue. If you end up making this pasta salad, let me know in the comments below! See you all again next week for a new blog post, and don’t worry - fall content is in the works & coming soon.
