This vegetable pasta is colorful and tasty with fresh herbs and light mayonnaise/mustard dressing
Recently I hosted a baby shower for a friend and lunch was served. My fellow hostess provided a sub sandwich and I had the side dishes to prepare. I decided on one of my favorites, a colorful vegetable pasta salad. I believe vegetable pasta salads are my standby go to recipes but I am never quite sure what spices or herbs to use and how much. Today I chose to use less salt, more herbs, and more mustard. It became the perfect combination.
A friend years ago said, use mustard – lots of mustard – and I have ever since. I added Dijon for the spice along with yellow mustard. The herbs I chose partly because of what I had growing in my little winter garden. I have been growing chives (one of my favorites) and thyme for a few seasons but this fall I just put in a new one, “salad burnet”. I picked it up at a local herb garden spot and thought it was pretty plus it said “good in salads, sauces, and soups”.
I threw in lots of vegetables for the crunch, color, and flavor. All together it was pretty and flavorful and yummy – a perfect side to the sub sandwich.
Vegetable Pasta Salad
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups dried bowtie pasta (precooked)
- 2 carrots (peeled and diced)
- 3 mini red peppers (seeded and minced)
- 1 stalk celery
- 2 green onions (all the white and green - cut into 1/2 inch pieces)
- 1/2 cup greens peas (frozen - thawed)
- 1/2 cup mayonnaise (I used light)
- 1 1/2 TBS Dijon mustard
- 1 1/2 TBS yellow mustard
- 2 sprigs thyme (minced)
- 4 sprigs chives (minced)
- 1 sprig salad burnet* (minced)
- 1 tsp salt (to taste)
- 1/2 tsp coarse pepper (to taste)
Equipment
- Large Mixing Bowl
Instructions
- Cook pasta to al dente according to directions on the package
- Drain and rinse pasta
- In a large bowl put all your diced vegetables
- Add the pasta and stir to mix
- Sprinkle thyme, chives, and salad burnet all over pasta vegetable mixture and mix
- In a small bowl add mayonnaise, mustards, salt, and pepper; stir to mix all in
- Scoop mayonnaise/mustard mixture into bowl with pasta and vegetables; mix in
- Refrigerate about 1 hour to chill and incorporate flavors
Notes
A couple of tips for you that have taken me lots of years to learn: 1) let the salad chill for an hour to really bring out all the flavors together and 2) mix your salad first in 1 large bowl and then transfer it to a clean serving bowl – this gives you room to mix and prettier to serve in a clean bowl without the mixed dressing all over the sides.
What is your favorite salad to serve at gatherings?
Lisa says
I made your vegetable pasta salad tonight to have alongside rotisserie chicken quesadillas. Everyone loved it. My husband could not stop eating it. I substituted radishes for the celery since I don’t like celery and added cherry tomatoes and toasted almonds. Just a couple of questions. Is it supposed to have 3 tablespoons of mustard? That seems like a lot for only 1/2 cup of mayonnaise. I just put in a heaping teaspoon of each mustard and it was perfect. I also added a splash of worcestershire sauce and a teaspoon of fresh lemon juice. I have never heard of salad burnet. Where do you find it? Thanks for the great recipe!
Ellen says
I am so happy to hear that your family loved the salad. It really depends on how much you like mustard but your additions sound perfect for your family. Salad burnet was an unique herb I found when I was trying new flavors and herb. It is okay to leave out because it is very minimal, but it tastes a little like cucumber.