Main Dish Delish Summer Pasta Salad

[veggeroni]

Oops that should read 1 can of chickpeas, not 2. Although 2 might work, too!

[Storm]

Très bon!  I made this Wednesday, it is now Sunday and we're still eating it!  It makes quite a bit and it is very versatile.  I made it as posted, except for the beans (and I used tri-colored corkscrews).  I was out of garbanzos so I used great northerns.  We ate it like that for 2 days and then added some black olives and mild banana peppers to change it up some!  I'll try to get the photo downloaded and posted soon.  It is also a very pretty salad with all the colors, though I doubt my photo did it any justice.

[shannon86]

Mmm! This was great. I used whole wheat penne, a big 30 oz can of chickpeas (I was just going to use half, but ended up throwing it all in), and added extra dressing (with extra nayonaise and a little lemon juice). Cheap, healthy, and it goes a long ways!

[notquitevegan]

Très bon!  I made this Wednesday, it is now Sunday and we're still eating it!  It makes quite a bit and it is very versatile.  I made it as posted, except for the beans (and I used tri-colored corkscrews).  I was out of garbanzos so I used great northerns.  We ate it like that for 2 days and then added some black olives and mild banana peppers to change it up some!  I'll try to get the photo downloaded and posted soon.  It is also a very pretty salad with all the colors, though I doubt my photo did it any justice.

Your picture made me put this in my recipe box.  It looks delicious.

[sugar-skull]

i used this recipe as a base for a really simple pasta salad. i wanted to use veganaise and Italian dressing, and this was the first one i came across that used both.

i modified it to my taste, though. the first time i made it i used two different shapes of veggie pastas (curly q's and bowties), orange bell pepper, tomato, onion. celery, Italian dressing, veganaise, dill, salt & pepper, and Dijon mustard. i followed the measurements of this recipe, and i thought it was pretty good, but i could taste a lot of mustard (where i wanted to taste more mayo). the boyfriend isn't a big pasta salad person because he doesn't like the "crunchies" (celery, onion... basically anything but pasta.. haha).

the second time around (pictured), i just used bowtie pasta, 1/2 scant cup veganaise, 3/4 cup Italian dressing, and 1/2 tbsp Dijon mustard, about half the onion + celery the recipe calls for, salt, pepper, and dill. I'm sure chickpeas would have been lovely in this... but i didn't want to add them in this time. it's also much better after refridgerating overnight so the veganaise can set back up properly, so make it the night before you want to eat it.

I made a really simplified version of this, but i loved it... and it will surely become a staple for me

[JessaCita]

This is delicious! I made this to bring (as a sidedish) to a family gathering. The only things I changed were omitting the celery, using cherry tomatoes (halved) instead of one big one, and lowering the Vegenaise measurement to 3 Tbsp. I also used fresh dill instead of dried (1 Tbsp.), and that gave it a really nice, fresh flavor! I'll definitely make this again. Yum!

[michellio]

This was excellent! The first time I made it, I brought it to a pool party with all of my (omni) classmates from grad school. One even said that it was the best pasta salad she had ever had, and made sure to note that she does not make statements like that often!! I doubled the recipe, and or ten people, I only had a teeny bit left to take home!!

[fallenangel1184]

I love this salad, it always turns out awesome! It is my go to recipe when I have to bring something to potlucks esp. for ones with omnis. I used to worry about giving the vegan diet a bad rap if a recipe didn't come out well, so I just always bring this and everyone raves about it!!

[willwolf]

I made this today, and really like it!  I've made this recipe a few times, and it's definitely open to a lot of variation.  You can add/omit veggies.  You can change the beans.  You can change the dressing, or make your own.  You can use the Vegenaise or not.  You can change the herbs (I prefer a good amount of fresh dill).   I eyeball the amounts of everything, and it always turns out deliciously.

[amymylove]

Awesome! I only added 3 stalks of celery though and made some extra sauce to coat the paste with... Perfect!

[amyb1975]

This salad really hit the spot on a hot Texas day!  Will definitely make again, but next time with a  1/2 cup of "mayo" to make it a bit more healthy.  This would make a great dish to bring to a summer picnic or work potluck.

[Grammy]

I added a bag of baby spinach to this salad when I made it for supper last night and I thought it had plenty of dressing for the addition.  I think it would probably be too much without the spinach.  It turned out and tasted absolutely wonderful!  I used a whole 8-oz. bottle of Italian dressing.  Next time I will make my own dressing with extra virgin olive oil, since we are trying to eat more raw and natural.  Oh, and I also used only one long rib of celery and added about the same amount of sliced radishes.  Eating the leftovers for breakfast!  Yum!

[lebkuchen]

I just want to say thanks to all who have reviewed my recipe! (yes, I was formerly known as Veggeroni!  I also wanted to add that I have recently tried making it with Trader Joe's lower-fat mayo, and I didn't notice any difference in taste or texture of the dressing, in case anyone is curious or would like to try a lower-fat version. Also, I've taken to using slightly less onion and making sure it's minced very finely, since I have acid reflux and am very sensitive to raw onion. I usually only use about 1/3 of a small onion now. Red onion also works, too.

Funny thing is - I make this and serve it to my DH's family every summer (his mom is the one who gave me the original seafood-version of the pasta salad) and they all gobble it up. I don't think anyone has actually realized it's the same basic recipe of my MIL's but without the seafood! 

It's funny to me how some people say they make more dressing for it, and others say they use less! It just goes to show how everyone is different and that is the beauty of this recipe, I think - it's very adaptable and you can make it your own! Thanks again for your reviews! 

[humboldt_honey]

What volume or weight is the box of pasta?  I couldn't find a box of pasta.  I ended up buying a one-pound bag of whole wheat rotini pasta.  I cooked the whole thing.  I didn't add Veganaise because when I took it out of the fridge it the oil has separated and the solids looked curdled.  I didn't miss it, so this recipe would be fine for people who don't have access to special vegan ingredients.  I had purple-red to yellow heirloom cherry tomatoes that I cut in half instead of chopping a large tomato.  They looked nice in the salad.  I added fresh dill instead of dried.  I took about half of a small bunch and snipped them with scissors, I added olives (a can of black and a jar of kalamata - I like olives), and I didn't smash the chickpeas because I was running out of time.  I put them through the grater on my food processor.  That made it easy, but next time I'll also use the S blade and make them creamier.  The way I did it they were in small, non-creamy chunks.  If they got good and creamy, I might mix them with the Italian dressing before adding to the salad.

I like this recipe a lot.  The fresh dill and kalamata olives were flavorful additions.  I don't know how much pasta is in a box, but the pound of rotini made a. lot. of pasta.  I kept the recipe-specified amounts of other ingredients and it was fine.

I made this recipe because I'm looking for ways to save money and pasta was a solution.  With the kalamata olives and fresh dill, it might have cost me around $12 to make, but it's pretty much all I ate for five days, so $12 for for nearly a week's worth of food makes this a value, even with the additions.