Spring is upon us! There are an abundance of strong and beautiful veggies at our farmer’s market, and this past week, I could not resist them. Once I got all of them home however, I didn’t know what to do with them! I thought about it for awhile, and said, eff it, I’ll use them all!

I had this beautiful farfalle pasta wasting away in the pantry, and came up with the Spring Pasta Salad.

The awesome part about this is that you can use any green veggies you like. Hell, you don’t have to limit yourself to green either – any mix of veggies would be fabulous! All I had were green veggies, and nothing reminds me of spring more than an abundance of green. So there you have it.

What takes this pasta salad over the top is the dressing.

It’s one of those flavor combinations that are timeless, and never ever EVER gets old. It’s the old lemon and caper trick. The lemon caper vinaigrette tossed with this salad is really, really, REALLY awesome. If you had to include at least one veggie in this pasta salad, I’d urge you to keep the broccoli. The tops get soaked with the dressing, and as Guy Fieri would say – it’ll take you on a trip to flavor town.

This one is a toe-tapper.

Spring Pasta Salad

12 oz. Farfalle Pasta (4 C. Cooked)
2½ C. Broccoli Florets
2 C. Asparagus, chopped in 1-2 inch pieces
1½ C. Green Beans, halved
½ C. Red Onion, thinly sliced
1/3 C. Lemon Juice, freshly squeezed
1 t. Dijon Mustard
4 T. Olive Oil
2 T. Capers, coarsely chopped
½ t. Salt
1/8 t. Pepper

Bring a large pot of water to a boil, and cook pasta per package directions. Add broccoli, asparagus, and green beans to the pot about 3 minutes before pasta is scheduled to be done. Once the veggies are bright green, drain the pasta and veggies.

While the pasta is boiling, add lemon juice, dijon mustard, salt, and pepper to a large bowl. Mix to combine. Slowly drizzle in the olive oil while whisking to create your dressing for the pasta. Add in the capers and onions. When the pasta and veggies have finished cooking and are drained, add to the dressing mixture, and toss. Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve.

Serves 6
Spring Pasta Salad Printable Recipe

Nutritional Information

Serving size:	About 1½ – 2 cups
Servings per recipe:	6
Calories:	262
Total Fat:	10.2g
Saturated Fat:	1.2g
Sodium:	232.3mg
Carbohydrates:	37.1g
Fiber:	4.3g
Sugars:	4.7g
Protein:	6.9g