Marinated Vegetarian Pasta Salad

SERVINGS: Serves 5 to 6 as a meal, or 8 – 10 as a side.

1. Vegetables – feel free to switch up as desired., any roast-able veggies will be great! Also note, it looks like a huge volume uncooked but it shrinks by about 30% once cooked!

25 min roasting – listed veggies, cauliflower, carrots, corn on cob (cut kernels off), parsnip, root veg, pumpkin 15 – 20 min – broccoli, broccolini, fennel, beetroot (cubes), leeks 5 minutes – asparagus, green beans, peas. No cook – olives, artichokes, sun dried tomatoes and other pickled/antipasto veg, tomato, cucumbers, leafy greens.

2. Herbs – you want 2 tsp in total, just sub / double up on what you have. Or use a Mixed Herbs or Italian Herbs.

3. Chilli Flakes – aka red pepper flakes. I use 1 tsp because I like the buzz of heat!

4. PRO TIP to keep pasta salads juicy when making ahead (as they tend to dry out the next day) – increase volume of dressing by shaking it up with pasta cooking water. Starch in water emulsifies with fat in dressing = more dressing volume, same amount of flavour = can reserve some dressing = juicier pasta salad.

Also, cold pasta is drier. Let it come to room temp or even microwave briefly, the toss with reserved Dressing!

5. Cook pasta until extra soft because pasta firms up when cool. By cooking the pasta beyond al dente, it keeps the pasta softer even when refrigerated. So much more pleasant to eat!

6. Storage – Great fresh, even better on Day 2! I’ve kept this for 4 – 5 days and it still tasted great, I added a squeeze of fresh lemon. Best served at room temperature.

7. Nutrition per serving, assuming 8 serves.