summer vegetable pasta salad with squash, zucchini, tomatoes, onions, red peppers, & broccoli.
STEP 1: Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add the pasta and boil for 5-7 minutes or until tender. Drain in a colander.
STEP 2: While you’re waiting for the pasta water to boil and the pasta to cook, prepare the vegetables (squash, zucchini, broccoli, tomato, onion, parsley, red pepper). Give the vegetables a good wash and then cut into bite sized pieces (onions and red pepper thinly sliced; parsley removed from stems and chopped).
STEP 3: While the pasta is cooling, prepare the vinaigrette. In a small bowl whisk together the vegetable oil, olive oil, red wine vinegar, dijon mustard, oregano, minced garlic, salt, and pepper.
STEP 4: Combine the cooked pasta, chopped vegetables, and vinaigrette. Stir until everything is well mixed and coated with vinaigrette. Serve immediately or refrigerate until ready to eat.
summer vegetable pasta salad
Step By Step Photos
bow tie pasta
boil pasta
drain pasta
Cook the pasta in lightly salted water according to the package directions. Drain in a colander.
raw vegetables
chopped vegetables
While the pasta is cooking, wash and chop your vegetables. Cut everything into small, bite sized pieces. I find it helpful to remind myself to cut the broccoli smaller than I would expect… super large chunks of broccoli throw off the balance of the salad! The onions and red peppers were thinly sliced and I just gave the parsley leaves a good chop.
vinaigrette ingredients
whisked vinaigrette
Once the veggies are chopped and the pasta is drained and cooling, mix up the vinaigrette. It’s super easy, just whisk together the oils, red wine vinegar, dijon, oregano, garlic, salt, and pepper. Done.
mix pasta salad
Transfer the mostly cooled pasta (just make sure it’s not piping hot) to a very large bowl and pour the vinaigrette over top.
chopped vegetables
Add the chopped vegetables…
mix vegetable salad
Stir it all together until everything is well mixed and coated with vinaigrette. Could you ask for anything prettier? Either serve immediately or refrigerate until ready. I like to refrigerate at least a half hour to let the flavors blend.
