This vegetarian pasta salad comes together quickly but that speed doesn’t mean it’s lacking flavor. It’s full of flavor from lemony dressing and the vegetables and cheese. You’ll be hooked on this Lemony Pasta Salad with Artichokes and Chickpeas.
I know summer just started, but it has felt like summer has been going on for the past few months because it’s so damn hot here in Florida.
There are days when I feel like I am melting, but I really do love it.
My friend and I have to plan our morning workouts around the weather because it gets so hot so early on in the day. While we can survive the high temps, keeping the kids out in the temps just because we need a decent ab work out it’s too fair.
Sometimes we do it on my driveway, which is cool in the shade from the house. Or we do it in AC in her house. At least her TV stand offers me some support when I have no balance for the yoga moves she does does with ease.
Anyway, my day starts with some activity and then the rest of it is focused on eating. It’s just how I roll.
I really like to plan dinner as I look forward to having a family dinner together on the weekend, since my husband doesn’t typically make it home for dinner time with the kids. We eat after they go to bed, or I eat with them, if he is working late. But, family dinners on the weekend are awesome. Lately, we have been grilling things like chicken, burgers, or steak and changing up the sides to pair with the protein.
This Lemony Pasta Salad with Artichokes and Chickpeas is a side salad that I recently came up with when we had burgers and corn. That went so well together, but I know it will be awesome with anything, especially grilled chicken.
While I was making this pasta salad, I was sending pictures to Amanda to make her jealous of the dinner we were going to have and to bug her about what to call it. I was stumbling since I didn’t want something too long or not descriptive enough either. It has Mediterranean flavors, but I feared that if I just called it a “Mediterranean Pasta Salad” it would not be attention getting. Plus, I didn’t want someone to be like “hold up, where are the olives!?” Umm, no olives, no thank you. So she came up with “Lemony Pasta Salad with Artichokes and Chickpeas” and I was sold!
It seemed like a winning name to me, and I am hoping that you will think it’s a winning recipe as well.
Be sure to enjoy every second of summer and be sure to make this pasta salad.
Lemony Pasta Salad with Artichokes and Chickpeas
This vegetarian pasta salad comes together quickly but that speed doesn't mean it's lacking flavor. It's full of flavor from lemony dressing and the vegetables and cheese. You'll be cooked on this Lemony Pasta Salad with Artichokes and Chickpeas.
Ingredients
For the Pasta Salad
- 1 pound of cooked penne pasta, cooled
- 12 ounce jar of quartered marinated artichoke hearts, drained
- 15.5 ounce can of chickpeas, drained
- 1 English cucumber, halved length wise, then sliced into 1/8" thick half moons
- 1 Pint grape tomatoes, halved
- 8 ounces of marinated mozzarella cheese balls, quartered
For the Dressing
- zest of 2 lemons
- 1/4 Cup lemon juice
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- the oil marinade from the cheese
Instructions
- In a large mixing bowl, combine the pasta, artichokes, chick peas, cucumber, and tomato.
- Combine the ingredients for the dressing.
- Pour the dressing over the pasta and vegetables.
- Gently fold in the cheese.
- Chill for at least 1 hour before serving.
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