Easy Mediterranean Pasta Salad Recipe

Pasta salad is a staple regardless of the season. It's great at summer barbecues, sure, but it feels crucial at social brunch gatherings and parties. It's also equally as delicious for quick and family-pleasing weeknight dinners.

Recipe developer and health coach, Miriam Hahn, brings us this recipe for a Mediterranean twist on pasta salad that includes many bright and tangy flavors such as Kalamata olives, Dijon mustard, and red wine vinegar. She notes, "This recipe is great because you can make this on a busy weeknight because it is simple and quick, yet it is fancy enough to serve [when] entertaining." We also love that it loads a lot of flavor into a veggie-packed meal. If you want to eat more veggies, definitely give this dish a try.

Want a little bit more food to round out the meal? Hahn suggests pairing this dish "with a bowl of soup like a blended asparagus or butternut squash soup. It is great for a barbecue [when] paired with something off the grill."

To make this Mediterranean pasta salad, start by gathering your ingredients. For this recipe, you will need pasta, red onion, English cucumber, grape tomatoes, artichoke hearts, fresh basil, Kalamata olives, feta cheese, and pine nuts. The dressing is made of olive oil, freshly squeezed lemon juice, red wine vinegar, Dijon mustard, dried oregano, garlic granules, salt, and pepper. Hahn notes, "It is pretty filling on its own, but you can easily add some white beans or chicken if you want to bulk it up."

First, boil a large pot of water to cook your pasta. Whether you like bow tie or penne noodles, Hahn says, "It works well with any shape of pasta." Add your chosen pasta to the boiling water and cook it according to the package directions. In the meantime, slice the red onion, cucumber, tomatoes, artichoke hearts, and basil. Then, drain the pasta water, rinse with cool water, and set the cooked pasta aside.

Now, it's time to whip up the dressing. Add the olive oil, red wine vinegar, lemon juice, mustard, oregano, garlic granules, salt, and pepper in a small bowl. Use a whisk to stir until the dressing is well combined.

With all of your ingredients prepared, add the cooked pasta, red onion, cucumber, tomatoes, artichoke hearts, basil, olives, feta cheese, and pine nuts to a large bowl. Top this with the prepared dressing and toss it to combine.

Hahn explains, "This salad is really best served right after you make it. Tomatoes and cucumbers don't hold up very well the next day. So best to finish it up! If you want to make it so that you can eat leftovers, then you can just add the tomatoes and cucumber to the serving plate and not mix [them] in with the entire salad. The rest will keep fine, and you just might need to add a little olive oil and vinegar the next day as pasta tends to absorb the dressing as it sits."