Lemony spring pasta salad is a great vegan option for spring holiday gatherings. Loaded with vegetables, chickpeas, and a lemon dressing. Easy to make ahead and naturally nut-free!

Prep Time: 25 minutes mins

Cook Time: 20 minutes mins

Total Time: 45 minutes mins

Servings 8

Ingredients

Lemony Dressing

• 1 ½ teaspoons finely grated lemon zest
• ¼ cup fresh lemon juice
• ½ small shallot, chopped
• 2 teaspoons agave nectar/maple syrup
• ¾ teaspoon Dijon mustard
• sea salt and ground black pepper, to taste
• ½ cup neutral-flavoured oil, I like avocado

Pasta Salad

• ¾ lb asparagus, woody ends trimmed
• 1 cup shelled green peas, fresh or frozen
• 1 lb small pasta (I used a mini penne, but orzo, small rotini, baby shells, or orecchiette are all good)
• 1 ½ cups cooked chickpeas, from approximately 1 can, drained & rinsed
• 3 green onions, finely sliced
• 6-7 radishes, finely sliced into half moons
• ½ cup flat leaf parsley leaves, chopped

Notes

• I tried to keep the ingredients on the minimal side here, but you could add lots of cool ingredients to this if you have them around. Ideas: 2 tablespoons of capers chopped up, handful of fresh dill chopped up, 2 sticks of celery finely sliced, or even a small bulb of fennel shaved up nice and thin.
• This will be great with whatever pasta you like (regular, gluten-free, chickpea-based etc), just as long as you keep the shape small and toss it in most of the dressing immediately after draining.

Instructions

• Make the lemony dressing. In an upright blender, combine the lemon zest, lemon juice, shallot, maple syrup, Dijon mustard, salt, pepper, and oil. Blend the mixture on high until creamy and unified. Set aside.

• Place a large bowl of ice water on the counter.

• Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over medium-high heat. Chop the asparagus into 2-inch lengths and add to the boiling water. Boil the asparagus for 2 minutes, or until it’s just starting to become tender. Add the peas to the water and stir for a few seconds, or until they turn bright green. Using a slotted spoon, transfer all of the asparagus and peas to the ice water. Let the vegetables sit and chill down.

• Bring the salted water back up to a boil. Add the pasta and another good pinch of salt. Cook the pasta according to package directions. Once cooked, drain the pasta thoroughly and then immediately transfer it to a large bowl. Add the chickpeas to the bowl as well. Quickly toss the pasta and chickpeas with two thirds of the lemony dressing until everything is coated.

• Drain the asparagus and peas thoroughly and add them to the bowl with the pasta, along with the green onions, radishes, parsley, the remaining lemony dressing, some salt, and pepper. Toss to combine. Check the pasta for seasoning and adjust if necessary (more salt, pepper, lemon juice, extra herbs etc). Finished spring pasta salad will keep up to 5 days in the refrigerator in a sealed container.

Course: Main Course, Salad, Side Dish

Cuisine: American, Dairy-free, Egg-Free, Nut-Free, Plant-Based, Potluck, Special Diets, Vegan, Vegetarian

Diet: Gluten Free, Vegan, Vegetarian

Comments

• Anne Van Acker 20/04/2019

  I caught this recipe at just the right time- going to an Easter dinner tomorrow and I’m the only vegetarian at the table. I just finished making this, and it tastes so good- and I’m sure it will taste even better tomorrow! I’m quite sure everyone else will love it, too. My only minor substitution was tiny wedge-shaped slices of watermelon radish for the regular radishes – the color looks great in this salad!

• Carolyn 20/04/2019

  Made this for dinner last night, as a hot pasta dish and it was delicious! The dressing was wicked good and flavorful and i loved that there were as many veggies as pasta!

• Anne 17/04/2019

  This recipe looks great to take to Easter celebrations as my WFPB offering. Do you have a suggestion for making the dressing oil-free? Thanks advance.

  Reply

  • Laura 17/04/2019

    Hi Anne,
    My go-to substitution would be to soak about 1/2 cup raw sunflower seeds for about 2 hours. Drain the seeds and put them in the blender along with about 1/4 cup water to start. Add all of the other non-oil ingredients and blend on high, adding more water if necessary to get everything moving. Once it’s creamy and smooth, give it a taste and add more lemon/zest/salt etc to your liking. The dressing will be more on the creamy end, but will still work nicely for the pasta salad I think. Also, you may have a bit more dressing than you need (you kind of have to make a minimum amount when dealing with nut/seed-based dressings made in a blender). You need about 3/4 cup of dressing for this recipe total.
    -L

    Reply

    • Anne 19/04/2019

      Thanks, Laura. Sounds good to me.

      Reply

  • Jen Zetina 19/04/2019

    I would replace the oil for water and use Xantham gum. (Probably start with 1/4 tsp)