Description
This Gluten-Free Spring Pasta Salad is the perfect side dish or vegan main course for a spring lunch or dinner. It’s filled with nutty chickpeas, green peas, and fresh, sweet snap peas with gluten-free pasta, all tossed in a creamy lemon dressing. You can make it Modified AIP compliant as well.
Ingredients
Creamy Lemon Dressing
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 2 TBSP tahini
- 1/4 cup lemon juice
- 1 tsp maple syrup
- 1 tsp Dijon mustard
- Zest of half a lemon
- 1 clove garlic, crushed, finely minced, or zested
- 1/2 tsp sea salt (plus more to taste)
- 1/2 tsp black pepper (plus more to taste)
Pasta Salad
- 8 oz gluten-free pasta, approximately 2 cups
- 1 cup shelled green peas, fresh or frozen
- 1.5 cups cooked chickpeas
- 1 cup snap peas, sliced thinly lengthwise
- 1/4 cup fresh parsley, finely chopped
- 1/4 cup fresh basil, finely chopped
Instructions
- In a jar or small bowl, whisk together the olive oil, tahini, lemon juice, maple syrup, Dijon mustard, lemon zest, garlic, sea salt, and black pepper with a fork. Or, combine all of the dressing ingredients in a blender until emulsified.
- Boil the pasta in a large pot of salted water until al dente.
- Add in green peas just before draining and cook for 15-20 seconds.
- Drain and rinse in cold water. Then pour the pasta and green peas into a large bowl.*
- Add the chickpeas to the bowl with pasta and green peas and dress with 2/3 of the dressing. Allow to marinate at least 20 minutes. Alternatively, marinate the chickpeas on their own for 20 minutes then add to the pasta and green peas.**
- Just before serving, add in the thinly sliced snap peas, finely chopped parsley and basil, and the remaining 1/3 of dressing. Toss to combine.
- Adjust salt and pepper to taste.
- Garnish with additional herbs as necessary.***
Notes
Refer to the photos in the Tips & Tricks section to see how I sliced the snap peas.
*My brown rice pasta gets sticky if I leave as is so I always run it under cold water to loosen the pieces. This also acts like a quick blanch and ensures the pasta and peas don’t overcook.
**I used a brown rice pasta which was fine to marinate. However, some gluten and grain-free pastas like cassava pasta will get very soggy in the dressing for this length of time and shouldn’t be marinated. I recommend marinating the chickpeas on their own instead.
***Along with more fresh parsley and basil, dill would be a nice additional herb to use for garnish.
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 35 minutes
- Category: Sides
- Method: Assembled
- Cuisine: Italian inspired