With carrots, asparagus, tomatoes, and green onions, this pasta salad is deliciously light. Don’t be scared to make it ahead of time and put it in the fridge for a few hours because it gets better the longer it marinates.
| Prep Time: | 20 mins |
| Cook Time: | 10 mins |
| Total Time: | 30 mins |
| Servings: | 6 |
| Yield: | 6 servings |
Ingredients
- 1 (12 ounce) box whole wheat rotini pasta
- ¼ cup apple cider vinegar
- ¼ cup olive oil
- ¼ cup crumbled feta cheese, or to taste
- 6 leaves fresh basil, chopped
- salt and ground black pepper to taste
- 1 bunch asparagus, trimmed and chopped
- 3 tomatoes, chopped
- 2 large carrots, chopped
- 1 bunch green onions
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
Instructions
- Bring a large pot with lightly salted water to a rolling boil. Cook rotini at a boil until the pasta is cooked yet slightly firm to the bite, about 8 minutes; drain.
- Rinse the pasta with cold water until completely chilled; drain completely.
- While the pasta cooks, whisk the apple cider vinegar and olive oil together in a large bowl until blended. Stir feta cheese, basil, salt, and black pepper into the vinaigrette.
- Fold the asparagus, tomatoes, carrots, green onions, and garlic into the vinaigrette to coat evenly.
- Stir the cooled pasta into the vegetable mixture; toss until evenly mixed.
- Please note that the magazine version of this recipe includes additional time for chilling and differences in ingredient amounts.
Nutrition Facts
| Calories | 352 kcal |
| Carbohydrate | 52 g |
| Cholesterol | 6 mg |
| Dietary Fiber | 6 g |
| Protein | 11 g |
| Saturated Fat | 2 g |
| Sodium | 126 mg |
| Sugars | 8 g |
| Fat | 12 g |
| Unsaturated Fat | 0 g |
Reviews
What a great HEALTHY recipe. I substituted red peppers instead if tomatoes, veggie pasta they didn’t have whole wheat and cilantro instead of basil. WOW. Perfect. A side at a BBQ no leftovers. I made it again for myself and froze in small portions for that must have cravings.
Absolutely delightful! I substituted tarragon white wine vinegar for the apple cider vinegar and steamed and cooled sugar snap peas for the asparagus (fresh out, didn’t want to make a run to the store). I also used bagged shredded carrots (faster). If you can get it, use sheep or goat milk feta in brine (I think it’s more delicious than cow milk feta). This recipe definitely makes whole wheat pasta enjoyable. Kudos!
Intriguing Flavor has Short Shelf Life. It’s pretty tasty in or out of fridge the first 4 hours, but an overnight meld moves flavor towards bland. This isn’t a salad to make very far ahead of time and it’s not for me.
One of the best pasta salads I have had! I did make a few changes though, I used only one carrot which I shredded and then chopped up and that seemed like plenty. For the feta I used a whole container of feta (one package) and that was the perfect amount. Very yummy!!
Loved this! I had Gorgonzola, so used that instead and I loved the veggies so much next time I’m using half of the pasta amount. This one goes in my “keeper” binder for sure:)