Enjoy a Refreshing Pasta Salad
A Lemon Feta Pasta Salad is one of many pasta salads I make for cookouts, potlucks, and other social gatherings. And If I am hosting a summer cookout, you can bet I have a pasta salad planned for the menu. I love pasta salads because they are so easy to explore with different ingredients, flavors, and seasons!
There are 5 categories of ingredients I always include in my salads: pasta, veggies, protein, herbs, and dressing. Before we jump into this satiating salad, I am going to talk about why I always include these 5 ingredient categories!
Ingredients for this Lemon Feta Pasta Salad
Pasta: When making a pasta salad, like this Lemon Feta Pasta Salad, I use a small, bite-sized pasta like macaroni, bow tie, or penne with plenty of holes, crevices, and crannies. These little nooks work best to hold and absorb all the additional flavorings.
For this recipe, I used chickpea pasta in the shape called Rotini. Rotini is a beautiful spiral-shaped pasta, perfect for a pasta salad like this one. Chickpea pasta is becoming more and more popular with the US’s spiked interest in cooking at home and healthy alternatives. I found this box of chickpea pasta with the other pasta in the grocery store, but they may also be located in a gluten-free section or health foods section.
What’s Chickpea Pasta?
Chickpea pasta is pasta made primarily from chickpeas and it has a slightly different flavor and texture than regular pasta, which is good! Chickpea pasta has a nutty and an “al dente” type texture! Additionally, when I first started using chickpea pasta, I mixed half regular and half chickpea pasta. This is a great starting point for anyone new to chickpea pasta!
Sharper Tip: Banza chickpea pasta has 4x the fiber and 2x the protein as regular pasta and I find it to be more filling!
Vegetables: You can put any of your favorite veggies in a pasta salad! I usually like to mix in at least three! Ideally, they also complement one another. For this recipe, I used Spinach, tomatoes, artichokes, red onion, and green onion. I love using onions in almost everything I cook. And, I always use them in my pasta salads.
See other combinations I use with onions listed below!
- Shallots, corn, peppers, beans
- Red onions, peas, spinach, tomatoes
- Green onions, shredded kale, artichokes, and cucumbers (pictured below)
Protein: For the Lemon Feta Pasta Salad I used feta cheese and nuts making it 100% vegetarian. To make vegan, omit the cheese or sub for a vegan alternative.
In my pasta salad creations, I like to include at least one cheese, meat, or nut in the dish. Some other protein options for pasta salads include thick-cut pepperoni, Goat cheese, Parmesan cheese (freshly grated), sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, or slivered almonds.
Herbs: I love adding fresh herbs to recipes! In this salad, sometimes I used dried oregano and other times fresh. However, this recipe really comes together when using fresh flat-leaf parsley rather than dried parsley. Nevertheless, other tried and true favorites include sweet basil, pineapple sage, orange mint, dill, cilantro, or curly parsley.
Lemon Vinegarette: I have a few dressings I use over and over again in my kitchen, with different salads and pasta salads. For this Lemon Feta Pasta Salad I used one of my go-tos; a refreshing lemon vinaigrette.
My lemon dressing consists of high-quality olive oil, Champagne vinaigrette, lemon juice, herbs, and salt/pepper. You have the option to add mayo or unsweetened Greek yogurt for some additional creaminess.
Sharper Nutrition Fix: Vegetables
I could go on and on about this nutrition topic, food group, and way of life. I mean I do live the vegetable way of life! One of the most frequently asked questions I get as a Dietitian is “If you were to give just one piece of nutrition advise what would it be?” My answer is almost always the same every time, eat your vegetables!
Make half your plate fruits and vegetables and very your veggies! More information about vegetables and the USDA’s easy-to-follow guide can be found at myplate.gov.
Continuing this rant/rave about vegetables, there is so much information out there! So, here you go with some vegetable Trivia! A little info about the vegetables in this recipe.
Lemon Feta Pasta Salad Veggie Facts
Tomato: The tomato is America’s fourth most popular fresh-market vegetable behind potatoes, lettuce, and onions. There are over 10,000 varieties and the question of whether tomatoes are a fruit or a vegetable was once debated by congress (Face palm).
Spinach: If you compare 1lbs of spinach to 1lbs of a ground hamburger patty, you will find more iron in the spinach than you would in a hamburger patty!
Artichokes: Artichoke is an unbloomed flower, part of the sunflower family! It is one of the oldest foods known to humans…Sheesh!
Onion: Onions are very low in calories and add so much flavor! Onions are high in antioxidants and have anti-inflammatory effects! Research has shown that onions may reduce the risk of cancer, aid in lowering blood sugar levels, and improve bone health. WHOA!
Like this recipe?! Here are some others you might enjoy!
Make sure to check out my Post on Strawberries if you haven’t gotten the chance yet!
Lemon Feta Pasta Salad
Equipment
Ingredients
Salad Ingredients
Lemon Vinaigrette
Topping for Pasta Salad
Instructions
Pasta Salad
Lemon Vinegarette
Notes
Nutrition
Hi, I'm Sarah Harper. I am a Registered Dietitian Nutritionist who loves to cook, eat, and talk about food! Here at The Addy Bean, you'll discover an array of flexitarian recipes. My mission is to inspire and encourage others to eat and explore the world of plant-based foods!
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