Grilled Vegetable Pasta

By murphy91781

This light and fresh summer pasta salad is our favorite picnic food. We love the smoky depth from the grilled veggies. If you don’t have an outdoor grill, you can grill your veggies using a cast iron grill pan. It works beautifully. Grill the veggies as the brown rice penne is cooking.

Ingredients

• For the dressing:
• 1 pound gluten-free brown rice penne pasta
• 1 medium zucchini, sliced
• 1 pound fresh asparagus spears, ends trimmed
• 1 cup grape tomatoes
• 4 scallions or spring onions
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil leaves
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh mint
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh cilantro leaves
• Sea salt and ground pepper, to taste
• 1 medium yellow tomato
• 5 tablespoons Veganaise (vegan mayo)
• 5 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice or rice vinegar
• 1/2 teaspoon minced fresh garlic
• 1 teaspoon dried dill

Details

Servings 6
Preparation time 30mins
Cooking time 60mins

Preparation

Step 1

Bring a large pot of salted water to a rolling boil and cook the penne until it is firm to the bite- al dente. Do not over cook it.

Drain, rinse in cool water, and drain well. Drizzle with a touch of extra virgin olive oil and toss gently to coat.Place in a large salad bowl.

In the meantime, heat the grill or grill pan to medium heat.

Grill the zucchini, asparagus spears, grape tomatoes and scallions until tender but still firm. Remove to a plate and set aside.

Make your dressing by combining the Veganaise, olive oil, lemon juice or rice vinegar, garlic and dill. Set aside.

When the veggies are cool enough to handle, slice the zucchini into half moons. Slice the asparagus spears into bite size lengths. Slice up two of the scallions.

Add the zucchini, asparagus, sliced scallions, and grilled grape tomatoes to the cooked pasta. Add the chopped fresh herbs. Add the dressing.

Gently toss.

Serve with wedges of fresh yellow tomato for a splash of sunny color, and grilled scallions.