It’s officially patio season, and this Vegan Mediterranean Pasta Salad is the perfect gluten and dairy free side for your next outdoor cookout! This dish is not only visually pleasing, it’s also incredibly flavorful. Full of fresh cucumber, grape tomatoes, red onion, black olives, pepperoncinis and my favorite Violife vegan feta, this salad hits every note on the tastebud front.
To keep this dish gluten free, I used Trader Joe’s fusilli brown rice pasta, but feel free to use whatever gluten free shape you prefer. As for the vegan feta, Violife is the only brand I have found who makes one, and I picked it up at my local Natural Grocers. If you can’t find it, no worries, this pasta salad is still great without it.
While I lay out ingredient quantities for you down below, this is a recipe that you can take your own liberty with. Do you really like black olives? Add more! Not a fan of tomatoes? Leave ’em out. Don’t get too caught up in the specific amounts, just make it to suite your tastebuds, and follow the general guidelines.
This dish is best served after its had some time in the fridge to meld together, so if you can, make it a few hours prior to serving.
Vegan Mediterranean Pasta Salad
Author: The Lean Clean Eating Machine
Ingredients:
- 12 ounces dry gluten free pasta – I used Trader Joe’s brown rice fusilli, but feel free to use whatever brand you would like
- 1 English cucumber; quartered and diced
- 1 pint grape tomatoes; cut in half, then quartered
- 2 2.25oz cans sliced black olives; drained
- 1/2 cup sliced golden pepperoncini rings; coarsely chopped
- Half of a medium red onion; peeled and thinly sliced
- 4 ounces Violife vegan feta; crumbled with hands into pieces
- Fresh cracked black pepper to taste
Mediterranean Dressing:
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 3 tablespoons red wine vinegar
- 1 tablespoon freshly-squeezed lemon juice
- 2 teaspoons dried oregano
- 1 teaspoon maple syrup or honey
- 3 garlic cloves; I used a garlic press, but if you don’t have one, smash and finely mince
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
Instructions:
- Cook your pasta according to package directions. When finished, drain, then rinse with cold water to stop the cooking process.
- While the pasta is cooking, prepare your cucumber, tomatoes, onion and pepperoncinis. Add them to a large mixing bowl, along with the drained sliced olives and stir to mix.
- In a separate small bowl, combine all of the ingredients for your Mediterranean dressing. Whisk everything together until it is well combined.
- Pour finished, rinsed pasta into the bowl, and stir to mix with the other ingredients. Add in your dressing and stir to thoroughly coat.
- With clean hands, crumble in your vegan feta and stir to combine.
- Season with fresh cracked black pepper to taste, and let sit in the fridge for at least 30 minutes before serving.