Serves 6
Time: 30 minutes || Active time: 20 minutes
Forget that tired old pasta salad Aunt Gertrude brings to the family reunions, this salad is where it’s at! No mayo required, the Sundried Walnut Dressing gives up plenty of flavor, beans keep you stuffed and arugula gives you that Trattoria feel. So tell Aunt Gertrude she’s fired, but could she get you some fresh black pepper before she leaves? This recipe is modified from Appetite For Reduction.
Note: this is a low-fat recipe, but if you like, you can add 2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil to the dressing. You can also add 1/2 cup toasted walnuts to the salad when you’re mixing it, just toast 1/2 cup extra when making the walnuts for the dressing.
Time management tip: Cook the pasta first and then prepare everything else, including the dressing.
For the Sundried Tomato Walnut Dressing:
1/4 cup sundried tomatos (the dry kind, not the oil-packed kind)
3 tablespoons walnuts, toasted
1/2 teaspoon fennel seed
2 tablespoons chopped shallots
3/4 cup water
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
1 teaspoons dijon mustard
3/4 teapoon salt
A few dashes fresh black pepper
1/2 teaspoon dried marjoram
For the pasta salad:
8 oz shell shaped brown rice pasta, boiled al dente, drained and cooled
1 15 oz can great northern beans or navy beans, rinsed and drained
4 cups arugula
1 small red onion, thinly sliced
1/2 cup chopped roasted red peppers
1/4 cup pitted kalamata olives, chopped in half
Salt to taste
Fresh black pepper
Optional: 1/2 cup toasted walnut halves
Prepare the dressing:
First rehydrate the tomatoes. Place them in a bowl, a submerge in warm water. Let them soak for about 15 minutes, then drain.
Meanwhile, toast the walnuts. Preheat a small, heavy bottomed pan over medium heat. Toss in the walnuts and toast them, stirring often, for about 7 minutes. They should be varying shades of toasty brown, and smell walnut-y. Transfer immediately to the food processor.
Pulse the walnuts and fennel seed to finely chop. Add the remaining ingredients, except for the marjoram, and puree until relatively smooth. Add the marjoram and pulse a few times to get it integrated. Keep refrigerated in a tightly sealed container until ready to use.
Assemble:
Once the pasta is cool, toss all ingredients together in a large mixing bowl. Taste for salt and keep chilled until ready to eat.
Holy moly this looks ah-maaazing.
mmmm! i have a work potluck coming up and i had thought of bringing pasta salad. now i know i’m definitely bringing pasta salad!!! this looks amazing! 🙂
holy mother of god this is good! i used cannellini beans and oil-packed sun dried tomatoes cuz that’s all i had. this dressing could be used as sauce for any number of dishes. the salad is really good as is, but i think, if you wanted to, you could even add ONE more veggie (any more would just confuse the taste). i think chopped persian cucumbers, diced fresh tomatoes or shredded zucchini would be good additions. and pine nuts in lieu of walnuts would be good too, but i do love it with the walnuts. the dressing is super easy to make/store if you have a magic bullet. i’m definitely making it and keeping it on hand for every day salad dressing or sauce. and the dish is beautiful. even my 6 year old ooohed and ahhhed at how pretty it looked!
I made this recently– delicious!! I made a few subtle changes: I added olive oil to the dressing, used (white) wheat pasta, subbed the marjoram with oregano (bc that’s what I had), and left out the red onion. It came together just beautifully. Thanks again for another great recipe!
Excellent! Tangy, sassy, bold awesomeness. And I didn’t even make it with the beans, which I’m sure would take it to new heights. I forgot the tomatoes initially and it was just as good without them, really. I might sub fresh cherry tomatoes next time since they’re in season right now. The only bummer was that it didn’t taste as good the next day…not one of those “marinate and marry” kind of salads.
Oh thank you, thank you, thank you for this gift! I have the cookbook, but I would not have done the combo here, sometimes ya’ need things spelled out! I was starving tonight and didn’t have many calories left, and here is this gift. Oh was it ever good! I didn’t use the peppers (hate) nor olives (too lazy to look for them) and it was so filling and zesty!
I made this recently and it was fantastic. Everyone loved it, and even had a comment that they could eat the dressing by the spoonful. Urrrmmm, okay…
this salad is so fantastic! i adore it, yum. the brown rice pasta was delicious.
Ooooo I’m getting more hungry while reading the recipe…..
I know what I’m going to cook tonight 🙂
This is delicious! I could not get the jar of roasted red peppers to open (tried all the tricks I know!) but it tastes wonderful even without them. I’m so glad I tried brown rice pasta too, it seems much more versatile than whole wheat pasta (less heavy) and less grainy than the quinoa/corn pasta I’ve been using a lot lately.
was UNREAL!!! thanks so much for the epic salad <3
Loved it! Great recipe and this will be a staple in my home!
I just made this salad for a pre-movie picnic lunch. I hope my friends love it as much as I do. Thanks for sharing!
OK, I have to comment on this pasta salad. It is amazing! I especially love it without fennel and marjoram, but with dryfried tofu and extra roasted pepper. I’ve made it SO many times, and to so many people. I don’t think I’ll ever be tired of it. Thank you so much for all your wonderful recipes!
The grocery store I went to was out of arugula, so I used dandelion greens. So yummy! This will be my new potluck go-to! Perfect for a hot summer day.
Mine too! Its my favorite potluck dish to take, especially for summer picnics.
Excellent choice Isa, This is another option to learn how to prepare vegan food.
I love the dressing – I am always a big fan of mixing pasta with walnuts: it is a combination which kills your hunger immediately! Very elegant 🙂
A little suggestion: have you thought about adding hemp seed to the sauce? The combination is quite good (see for example https://leckerbiss.com/2014/11/01/continuing-on-stylish-salads-yummy-recipe-needing-only-5-minutes-preparation/). And, hemp has such a light nutty taste, it would fit right in… Best!
So I LOVE this pasta salad. As a girl with PCOS who’s been trying to lose weight, Appetite for Reduction has been a lifesaver. I do deviate a little from the recipe just for my own preferences: ¾ cup water is a bit too much for me for the dressing. I love a thicker dressing for my pasta salad. I go ½ cup water then use about two tablespoons of the beans to thicken it up even more. I also prefer lentil pasta to boost my protein a little… And instead of cooling the pasta before adding everything, I actually put my onion in my Giantest Plastic Bowl then put the hot pasta on top to kind of take the edge off that strong red onion flavor.
Delicious, the dressing especially, a hot at last nights cookout,