With the Fourth of July right around the corner, we’re smack dab in the middle of “salad” season- potato salad, pasta salad, chicken salad, egg salad, ambrosia salad. Basically, saladless salads that usually have little to no actual nutritional value. Appropriately, tonight for dinner, I decided to create a Mediteranean-inspired pasta salad for my family- only this one is actually healthy!
Ingredients:
- 1 lb box of small pasta (I used farfalle)
- 2 6 oz cans salmon in water
- 1 bell pepper, any color (I used green)
- 1/2 red onion
- 1 large tomato
- 1/2 cup pitted kalamata olives
- generous handful chopped mint
- 3 T olive oil
- 3 T balsamic vinegar
- 1 t dijon mustard
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 3 T lemon juice
- 1 t dried oregano
- salt and pepper, to taste
Cook the pasta according to the package instructions, then drain and rinse in cold water for a few minutes and return to the pot. While the pasta cooks, finely dice the pepper, onion, tomato, olives and mint, and combine them by shaking everything in a Tupperware container. In a small bowl, mix the olive oil, vinegar, mustard, garlic, lemon juice, oregano and salt and pepper. Add vegetables to pasta, then top with dressing and stir until all pieces are coated. Drain cans of salmon and stir into pasta mixture.
This makes a lot of salad (probably about 8-10 cups), so it would be perfect for a party. It’s light and fresh tasting, perfect for the summer.
I had a big bowl of it for dinner, and it was just the thing for the hot weather. I especially love the saltiness of the olives!
What’s your favorite not-really-a-salad-salad? I’m not a big fan of mayo in general, but the one time I like it is in potato salad. Egg salad, on the other hand, makes me gag.
