Green Goddess Pasta Salad Bowl

I couldn’t help but create something lean, clean, delicious and green for the month of March.  Spring is upon us, and St. Patrick’s Day is just around the corner, so why not celebrate with the season’s most festive and delicious color?  Here, a healthier, heartier spin on a delightful classic—the Green Goddess Salad.

If only we could all become more goddess-like with every salad we eat! This salad has it all, too: spring-forward veggies, healthy fats, good carbs, toasty nuts and a dressing that you’ll want to eat right off the spoon.  “You can’t eat the salad dispassionately,” so says the New York Times about this celebrated salad – “it’s not the salad to have for lunch at work.” I disagree on the last point — it is indeed the salad you can have for lunch at work; it’s simple enough. It’s also humble enough to have at home with your family, and even fancy enough for a dinner party.

The classic recipe is rich with herbs, anchovies, garlic and typically some sort of mayo or sour cream-heavy base. This take, however is made with olive oil, bright herbs, fresh greens, zesty lemon and a nutty base of toasted walnuts and nutritional yeast.

Nutritional yeast is a unique plant-based food (or seasoning) that is surprisingly rich in protein, fiber, vitamins and amino acids. It's nutty and savory, often used by vegans to add a pleasantly cheesy flavor and powerful nutritional punch to recipes and foods.  It also adds a velvety, creamy texture to the dressing when blended with oil and herbs.

I wanted some depth to the salad — spring can still be cool and crisp and a layer of comfort food in a salad goes a long way on a sunny yet chilly spring day. So, I opted for a chickpea-based pasta to add a heartier element to the greens.  Chickpea pasta is loaded with protein and fiber. A 2-ounce dry serving (which yields about 1 1/4 cups cooked pasta) has 5 grams of fiber and 11 grams of solid plant-based protein. The dressing serves double duty as a sauce for the pasta and dressing for all the veggies.

And the dressing is what you’ll remember. It’s the dressing of all dressings — one you’ll make and keep constantly in your refrigerator to use with everything from greens and pastas to grains, meats, sandwiches and even fish. It’s like pesto, but creamier (and without any cream!).

And because it’s March, I loaded the salad with spring peas, fresh asparagus, baby broccoli, crisp arugula and creamy avocado. The beauty, however, of this versatile salad, is that you can spin it to accommodate any of your favorite seasonal spring (or summer, winter, and fall) garden goods.

 

Green Goddess Pasta Salad Bowl

Serves 6

Dressing

• 1 cup loosely packed basil
• 1 cup loosely packed spinach
• 2 garlic cloves, smashed
• Juice from ½ a lemon
• 1 tablespoon finely chopped shallot or red onion
• ½ teaspoon dijon mustard
• ¼ cup nutritional yeast
• ¼ cup toasted walnuts (cashews, pecans or almonds work, too)
• ¾ teaspoon kosher salt
• 3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
• 2 tablespoons water
• 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

To make dressing, combine first 12 ingredients in a high-speed blender; process until very smooth, scraping down sides as needed.

 

Pasta Salad Bowl

• 1 bunch baby broccoli, cut into thin stalks
• ½ bunch thin asparagus, cut into 1-inch pieces
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
• 4 ounces uncooked chickpea pasta (I used Banza cavatappi)
• 1/2 cup fresh green peas
• 1 cup thinly sliced kale
• 5 cups baby arugula
• 5 cups baby spinach
• ½ ripe avocado, thinly sliced
• ⅓ cup toasted walnuts

Preheat oven to 400. Toss broccoli and asparagus in olive oil; sprinkle with ¼ teaspoon salt. Place on a sheet pan coated with cooking spray; roast 8-10 minutes or until tender (but not burned).

Bring a large pot of salted water to a rolling boil. Cook pasta according to package directions. During last 2 minutes of cook time; add peas and kale to the pot with the pasta.  Drain.

Combine pasta mixture with ⅓ cup prepared dressing; toss well to coat. Place pasta over arugula and spinach; top with roasted broccoli and asparagus.  Drizzle with additional dressing to coat; toss to combine. Top with avocado and sprinkle with walnuts.

 

Sidney Fry is a two-time James-Beard-Award-winning food and nutrition writer who loves creating simple, healthy recipes and thoughtful, actionable content for the hungry consumer. A healthy living proactivist, Sidney is also a registered dietitian nutritionist, recipe developer and mama of three based in Birmingham, Alabama.