We call this recipe our summer lemon pasta salad for one simple reason. During the summer, things should be easy and we often need to be able to feed large groups of people at the drop of a hat and that’s exactly what we can do with this dish. We will also mention that it tastes absolutely amazing and when we make this one for friends, everyone literally freaks out over the dressing. It’s our lemon basil vinaigrette and it might be one of the most amazing things you’ve ever tasted. Sounds aggressive but we really stand behind that statement. Go ahead, give it a try and you’ll see for yourself.
Check out how easy this recipe is to make…
We just love this multi colored pasta from Trader Joe’s. Look how pretty it is. You can use whatever spiral pasta you prefer but we suggest something with some color as that always just brings it up a notch. We also pretty much add spinach wherever we can because well, it pairs just beautifully with so many ingredients and we’ll take extra vitamins (A, B and C) and fiber and folic acid (to name just a few of the benefits) whenever we can. Gotta love yummy edible vitamins!! Just chop it up and set it aside.
Then, just cook up the pasta according to the package directions and then drain and rinse with cold water. While the pasta is cooking, prepare the lemon basil vinaigrette. You can use a blender or an immersion blender to combine all of the vinaigrette ingredients.
Then transfer the pasta and chopped spinach to a mixing bowl and drizzle with the lemon basil vinaigrette. Toss to throughly combine and season with salt and pepper. Serve as is or add your favorite protein such as grilled chicken. This salad is very versatile so you can also add your favorite veggies too.
We hope you love this recipe as much as we do!
- 1 - 16oz package spiral shaped pasta
- 2 C fresh spinach, stemmed and finely chopped
- kosher salt & cracked pepper to taste
- juice of 1 extra large lemon or 2 medium lemons
- ¼ C red wine vinegar
- 1 clove garlic chopped
- 1 C loosely packed fresh basil leaves
- ¼ C 0% plain greek yogurt
- 1½ Tbsp honey
- ¼ C good quality olive oil
- S & P to taste
- Cook pasta according to package instructions. Drain and rinse with cold water.
- While pasta is boiling assemble the lemon basil vinaigrette. Add all ingredients except for olive oil into a blender or use an immersion blender. Blend until basil is thoroughly mixed. Slowly drizzle olive oil in with blender on until combined. Add S & P to taste.
- Add pasta to a large bowl. Add chopped spinach and gently fold in. Add desired amount of lemon basil vinaigrette.
- Season with S&P to taste. Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve.
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