Pasta salads have a special place in my heart, and this one has some of my favourite foods in it. Tomatoes, kalamata olives, asparagus and mustard. Yes! Mustard. I love it so much I try to sneak it into everything and this salad is not the exception. I added it to the dressing, so it is not overpowering but instead adds a lovely flavour to this light Mediterranean pasta salad.
Pasta salads are easy to make, can be adapted to anyone’s taste and are quite inexpensive. What’s not to love? This one is a lighter version and perfect for sweltering days. The fact that it is not drenched in salad dressing makes it ideal for packed lunches since it travels so well. I tend to make a larger portion of it and eat it the following day as well. If you want you can keep the dressing in a separate container and mix it just before you eat it but this one keeps well, at least in my opinion.
But let’s talk about my favourite in this pasta salad, the olives. Kalamata olives are so incredibly packed with flavour, and I can highly recommend you buy the ones that are not pitted and remove the pit yourself. It might be a little bit messy, and you won’t have perfectly sliced olives, but the flavour will be there. Don’t get me wrong I love beautiful things, and I tend to get my food Instagram ready whether I post it on social media or not. Life is too short not to celebrate every single moment, but these little olives are worth the visual sacrifice.
Since we’re talking about visuals, the next picture might look a little bit questionable, but that is exactly what you should do with your onions while the pasta is cooking. Slice them thinly and coat them with the salad dressing. This will pickle them slightly and give the dressing another depth of flavour.
Depending on the asparagus it is fine to eat it raw, especially when you get your hands on fresh green asparagus like this one. But I wanted to add some extra flavour and garlic, so I just gently sauteed it a little bit over low heat. I did this so that it softens slightly and absorbs the taste of the garlic and pepper while the pasta is cooking.
It’s worth doing this little extra step, trust me. Just look at this lovely portion and talking about portions, do tag me in your Instagram posts with #gloriathegreedyvegan if you make pasta salads. I am curious what you guys are adding to your versions.
- 175g (2 cups) farfalle
- 150g asparagus
- 2 tsp olive oil
- 2 cloves of garlic. minced
- 150g (1 cup) cherry tomatoes, halved
- 50g (1/2) cup red onion, finely sliced - about half an onion
- 1 tbsp chopped parsley
- For the dressing:
- 3 tbsp olive oil
- 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
- 1 tbsp agave syrup or sweetener of your preference
- 1 clove of garlic, minced
- 2 tsp mild mustard
- 1 tsp salt
- ½ tsp pepper
- pinch of cayenne pepper
- Slice the onion as thinly as possible. Mix it with the ingredients of the dressing in a bowl and set aside.
- Cook the pasta following its instructions and drain it when done.
- While the pasta is cooking, trim the asparagus to remove any dry ends but don't remove too much. You should just slice the ends off thinly - if necessary. Cut the Asparagus into pieces and place them into a pan. Add 2 tsp olive oil, minced garlic and a pinch of pepper. Saute the asparagus for a few minutes over medium heat. You want to cook it gently, so it still has a bite to it.
- Your pasta and asparagus should be done at about the same time. Add the pasta, asparagus and onions with the dressing into a large bowl and give it a gentle mix.
- Serve immediately or let it cool down fully and serve chilled. Scatter 1tbsp of freshly chopped parsley over it just before serving.
I love pasta salads! I like that this recipe has simple and healthy ingredients. I’m always looking for healthy salads to use for lunches and dinner sides. Thanks for sharing!
Oh, this salad looks amazing! Pinning to try for lunch. I love how you slightly pickled the onions. I’m definitely trying that.
I love asparagus! and tomatoes in pasta is amazing! this recipe really look delicious!xx corinne
This Looks delicious! I love Pasta Salads. Going to have to try this for one of our upcoming summer bbq’s! Thanks for sharing
I love pasta salad! There is something so cool and refreshing about it that I can’t get over! I will have to try this one!
Mmm, this looks like a fantastic salad. I’d have the leave the olives off mine though! But everything else looks great.
You had me at pasta, which I absolutely love! Your light Mediterranean pasta salad sounds absolutely perfect for hot summer weather! Yummers!
This pasta looks great! I love light pastas like these!
Looks so delicious! I ‘ll put this on my menu list and will try to cook this for my family and friends they will love this much.
Now that is one delicious looking pasta salad. When the weather is warm I love nothing more than a Med salad and the fact that yours is vegetarian is even better for me! x
OMG! #fangirling. I love your blog so much! – Love, G.
Your recipe makes me super hungry. I would love to paired this with my favorite vino. Yummylicious!
Love pasta salads they are always a perfect and quick recipe . This one looks amazing and would be great for get togethers.
I am a pasta lover.So this dish makes me hungry!It looks delicious and the sauce looks creamy.I haven’t tried asparagus in a pasta dish before.So I will try next time to see how it tastes!
Asparagus is one of my favourite ingredients, and I love the idea of using it with pasta, it looks delicious.
I love to make Pasta to salads. I have never tried it with asparagus but it sounds really good and asparagus is one of my favorite vegetables.
This light Mediterranean pasta salad with asparagus sounds interesting. I don’t like dressing but I would love to try it without the dressing and make the dressing for my family. Asparagus is one of our favorite veggies. Thanks for sharing the recipe.
You can skip the dressing and use pesto if you want. – Love, G.
my o my, i somuch like the look and feel of this awesome meal. am sure it sure tastes great as it looks. i love meals vegan so i love this too.
I love pasta with greens… well anything with greens! LOL its always delicious!