Spring Pasta Salad
Elevate a simple pasta salad by taking a monochromatic approach with the ingredients to create a sophisticated, modern dish. Green is the color of choice for this fresh, bright, and beautiful salad.
It’s time to replace cozy comfort food with light, bright dishes perfect for spring, and this pasta salad is a delicious place to start. Whole-grain rotini pasta, asparagus, cucumber, green onion, fresh parsley, and fresh dill are tossed in tangy vinaigrette. It’s definitely a fresh and flavorful way to welcome in the season.
Preparing this veggie-forward pasta salad starts by making a simple dressing of extra-virgin olive oil, white wine vinegar, fresh-squeezed lemon juice, minced garlic, oregano, salt, and pepper. I often use both vinegar and lemon juice when making vinaigrettes. The combination adds a depth of flavor that’s lacking when using just one of those acidic ingredients.
Next, cook the pasta. My favorite pasta shape when making pasta salad is rotini. It’s the perfect vehicle to deliver maximum flavor in every bite of pasta salad. The corkscrew shape of rotini provides lots of crevices to hold the dressing and fresh herbs. Other shapes that work really well in pasta salads include elbow, small shells, penne, orecchiette, gemelli, and rotelle. Another consideration when selecting the pasta is size; look for bite-size shapes that are easy to pick up with a fork.
One of the best ways to boost the nutritional value of any pasta salad is to use a whole-grain pasta. From a dietary fiber standpoint, whole-grain pasta has three times as much fiber (6 grams per 2-ounce serving) as regular pasta made from refined flour (2 grams fiber per 2-ounce serving). If you’ve tried whole-grain pasta in the past and were turned off by the slightly bitter taste and chewy texture, give it another chance. I find today’s whole-grain pastas to be far superior to their predecessors. The flavor is very mild, and the texture is a lot less grainy.
Last but not least are the add-ins. Going with a monochromatic theme, I opted for fresh asparagus, seedless cucumber, sliced green onion (green tops only), fresh parsley, and fresh dill. The flavors are bright and fresh, and the color of the finished salad is simply gorgeous.
Cook’s note: To take the raw bite out of the fresh asparagus, add it to the cooking pasta one minute prior to draining. Drain and rinse the pasta and asparagus under very cold water until the pasta is cooled. Allow the pasta and asparagus to drain well while preparing the other ingredients.
To your health,
Darlene
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SPRING PASTA SALAD
Yield: 9 servings
Serving Size: 2/3 cup
Prep: 15 minutes
Ready: 30 minutes
INGREDIENTS
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
3 tablespoons white wine vinegar
2 tablespoons fresh-squeezed lemon juice
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
3 cups cooked whole-grain rotini pasta (2 cups dry)
1 cup chopped asparagus
1 cup sliced seedless cucumber
1/2 cup sliced green onion (green tops only)
3 tablespoons minced fresh parsley
3 tablespoons minced fresh dill
DIRECTIONS
To prepare dressing, place oil, vinegar, lemon juice, garlic, oregano, salt, and black pepper in a jar with a tight-fitting lid. Seal jar, shake to combine, and set aside.
Cook pasta according to package directions, omitting salt if called for. One minute prior to draining pasta add in asparagus. Drain and rinse pasta and asparagus under cold water until cooled.
Place well drained pasta and asparagus in a large bowl and add, cucumber, green onion, parsley, and dill. Pour dressing over pasta mixture and stir gently to combine. Serve chilled.
Pasta Salad Tip: Flavorful dressings used in pasta salads will cling better to pasta that has been drained really well. One easy way to get your cooked pasta nice and dry is to place it on a few sheets of paper towel. Just let the drained pasta hang out on the paper towel while you prepare the other ingredients.
Nutrition Information per Serving
117 Calories, 7 g Total fat, 1 g Saturated fat, 0 g Trans fat, 0 mg Cholesterol, 164 mg Sodium, 13 g Total carbohydrate, 2 g Dietary fiber, 1 g Total sugars, 0 g Added sugars, 3 g Protein, 0 mcg (0%) Vitamin D, 19 mg (2%) Calcium, 1 mg (6%) Iron, 119 mg (2%) Potassium
© 2026 RECIPES MADE HEALTHY BY DARLENE ZIMMERMAN, MS, RD LLC
