Pasta Salad with Roasted Vegetables.

As long as you’ll roast 2 pounds of your favorite veggies and combine with at least 1 pound of uncooked pasta, your proportions should be alright for this recipe. I used up the veggies lying around in my fridge for this recipe. You can use the veggies you prefer, of course. When they are roasted, they will shrink in size dramatically, so don’t freak out if it seems like too many vegetables at first. Just go with it!

The salad dressing is extremely easy to make, using a combination of olive oil, lemon juice, grated parmesan cheese and herbs. This recipe is a nice side dish for a potluck dinner, or a backyard bbq (if you live in an area that you’re able to barbecue in right now, that is…).

Pasta Salad with Roasted Vegetables (serves 8)

Ingredients:

• 2 pounds of raw vegetables (32 oz.), chopped into bite size pieces
• olive oil for drizzling onto vegetables
• 1 pound of corkscrew pasta, bowtie pasta, or elbow macaroni
• 1 can of chickpeas, or any kind of canned beans (optional)

Ingredients for dressing:

• 2/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 1/4 cup lemon juice
• 2 Tbsp mayonnaise
• 1 Tbsp Italian seasoning
• 2 tsp. parmesan cheese, grated
• salt & pepper

Directions:

1) Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Cut 2 pounds of vegetables into bite size pieces. Lay in a single layer on a baking sheet, drizzle with olive oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper. Roast in the oven for 15-20 minutes. Set aside.

2) Cook 1 pound of pasta until al dente. Pour into a colander and drain. Set aside.

3) To prepare the dressing, combine lemon juice, mayo, Italian seasoning, parmesan cheese. Then, drizzle a thin stream of olive oil into the mixture, whisking to combine the ingredients until completely emulsified. Salt and pepper to taste.

4) In a large bowl, combine pasta, vegetables, 1 can of chickpeas or beans (optional). Pour on the dressing and combine until thoroughly coated. Set in the refrigerator for at least an hour to let the flavors soak into the pasta before serving.

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Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Cut 2 pounds of vegetables into bite size pieces. I used a combination of 8 stalks of asparagus, one tomato and two zucchinis.

Lay in a single layer on a baking sheet, drizzle with olive oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper. Roast in the oven for 15-20 minutes. Set aside.

You’ll end up with a beautifully caramelized array of veggies.

Cook 1 pound of pasta until al dente. Pour into a colander and drain. Set aside.

To prepare the dressing, combine lemon juice, mayo, Italian seasoning, parmesan cheese (on right).

Then, drizzle a thin stream of olive oil into the mixture, whisking to combine the ingredients until completely emulsified.

Salt and pepper to taste.

In a large bowl, combine pasta, vegetables, 1 can of chickpeas or beans (optional).

Pour on the dressing and combine until thoroughly coated.

Set in the refrigerator for at least an hour to let the flavors soak into the pasta before serving. The longer it sets in the fridge, the better it will taste.