Do you ever find yourself stumped when you are trying to figure out what to make for a light summer meal? This Zucchini Summer Pasta Salad will really hit the spot. A wonderful dish for summertime. This pasta has both zoodles and spaghetti noodles. This dish can be made vegan or vegetarian. It also can be made gluten free by adding a gluten free pasta to it. Served chilled, eat it by itself or accompany it with your favorite protein.
Tips For Making Zucchini Summer Pasta Salad
Noodles
Zucchini noodles also known as zoodles are a great addition to any pasta. Substitute them for the pasta if you want a lower carb alternative or add them in to your pasta to give it some more veggies and fiber. In the dish I like to add it in addition to the pasta noodles. A spiralizer works best to uniform the zoodles but if you don’t have this you could also chop them into match sticks or chunks.
Feel free to use any pasta for this. I like using spaghetti noodles. For this dish I used gluten free Bonza chickpea spaghetti noodles.
Boil water and cook pasta according to the package. Add in the zoodles 2 minutes before the pasta is finished cooking. Strain when they are finished and rinse them with cool water. Set aside in a large bowl.
Feta
If you are looking for this dish to be vegan, you can use Violife cheese or omit the feta completely. Otherwise feel free to use any feta crumble you like. Crumble and add to pasta.
Corn
For the best flavor use corn on the cob. Heat a grill pan or grill. Shuck the corn removing all the silk around the corn cob. Rub oil or vegan butter on the cob. Place it on the medium to high heat grill and cook it on all sides until the corn is charred and browned. Remove from the grill and season with salt and pepper.
Once the corn has cooled you can hold it by the bottom and using a knife, shave off the kernels into a bowl. I find a serrated knife works really well.
You can also used canned or frozen corn if you don’t have corn on the cob.
Peas
You can use fresh or frozen peas. Canned peas might be too mushy.
Mint and Arugula
Add in the fresh mint and arugula to the pasta.
Dressing
Add the fresh lemon juice, vinegar, honey, minced garlic and Italian seasoning to a jar. Slowly whisk in the olive oil until it starts to thicken. Add it to the pasta and mix it all together.
If you want some additional texture you could add in some toasted pine nuts. Serve this dish chilled or at room temperature. It can hold in an airtight container for 3 days.
Additionally you can add protein to it as well. I’ve made with with seared scallops and it paired together perfectly!
Zucchini Summer Pasta Salad
Ingredients
- 8 Oz Spaghetti Noodles
- 3 Zucchini’s Spiralized
- 1 Cup Peas
- 1 Cup Arugula
- 7 Oz Feta Crumbled If Vegan, Use Violife
- ¼ Cup Mint Sprigs Stem Removed
- 3 Corn Cobs Husked and Grilled
- 1 Tsp Salt and Pepper
Dressing
- 3 Tbsp Lemon Juice
- ¼ Cup Champagne Vinegar
- 2 Tbsp Honey
- 2 Garlic Cloves Minced
- 1 Tbsp Italian Seasoning
- ½ Cup Olive Oil
Instructions
- Cook pasta according to package.
- Spiralize the zucchini. Add it to the pasta water 2 minutes before pasta is done. Strain both the pasta and zucchini. Rinse them with cold water.
- Shuck the ears of corn. Butter and lay them on a hot grill pan. Cook until blackened on all sides. Let them cool off and using a serrated knife cut off the kernels from tip to tip.
- In a large bowl add in pasta, zucchini, arugula, corn, arugula and peas.
- Add in crumbled feta.
- Break up mint and add into bowl.
- In a smaller bowl mix together all ingredients except the olive oil. Slowly whisk the olive oil in at the end until thickened.
- Add the dressing to the pasta. Mix well and finish with additional cracked pepper.
- Serve Chilled.