Gluten Free 4th of July Pasta Salad

UPDATED 6/30/23

A fun, colorful, crunchy, zesty pasta salad perfect for the upcoming 4th of July holiday. Your guests will love it.

To Make The Pasta Salad

Use a very large bowl so you can fit all the ingredients and have room to stir.

Wash, peel and chop your vegetables. Slightly heat those that require it. Combine in a very large bowl and place in the refrigerator covered with a slightly damp paper towel. The damp paper towel keeps the vegetables fresh. You can then place the container cover on as you normally would.

You will make your pasta last after you make the dressing. To make the pasta, place cold water into a pot and add salt. Bring to a rolling boil. Cook pasta and leave semi-hard. You don't want to cook them completely or they will fall apart.

Drain pasta and immediately rinse under cold, slow-trickling water so as not to break the pasta, This will not only stop the cooking process but also cool the pasta. Add pasta to cold vegetables. You will immediately add dressing as indicated below.

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To Make the Dressing:

Combine all ingredients in a separate bowl. Mix together well. Cover with a lid or plastic wrap and place into the refrigerator to chill.

As the dressing is chilling, you will make your pasta according to instructions above.

Once pasta is done and cold and mixed with the vegetables, add most of the dressing to the salad', reserving some for later. Refrigerate the reserved dressing.

Stir pasta salad very gently so as not to break up the pasta or vegetables. Place the bowl, covered, back into the refrigerator until ready to serve.

I often make this type of dish the night before a big event. Chilling overnight allows the flavors to marry and it tastes better.

Before serving, mix salad gently once again as dressing tends to settle. Pasta will often soak up the dressing so you may need to add the reserved dressing just before serving.

Again, mix very gently.

Once salad is ready to serve, crumple feta cheese on top. Do this just before serving, if you do it and let it sit the cheese will "melt" into the salad. You want it freshly crumpled on top.

Serve and enjoy.

Ingredients:

If making for a large crowd, you can double or triple the recipe.

For the Pasta Salad

Gluten free pasta - 1 package - I prefer Tinkyada spiral cut

1/2 of a small red onion sliced thin

1/4 of a red, orange and yellow bell pepper sliced thin and slices halved

1 stalk celery chopped very small

1/2 cup frozen peas thawed and heated slightly

1 cup fresh baby spinach

cherry or grape tomatoes, sliced in half - amount your choice

frozen cauliflower florets thawed and cut small - steamed slightly - amount your choice

frozen broccoli florets thawed and cut small - steamed slightly - amount your choice

carrots - shredded - amount your choice

For the Dressing

1 cup plain Greek yogurt

1/4 cup sour cream

3 teaspoons lemon juice - I use fresh lemons

2 teaspoons sugar

3 tablespoons olive oil

1 1/2 teaspoons yellow mustard

1 tablespoon onion powder

1 tablespoon garlic powder

1/8 teaspoon oregano

1/2 teaspoon basil

salt to taste

Feta cheese to taste

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