As summertime slowly comes to a close, it’s time to squeeze in all the best summer recipes. Nothing screams summer quite like a cold pasta salad. Making a pasta salad is easy, only requiring a little time and a lot of herbs. My favorite way to make it is using fresh produce, particularly fruits and vegetables that are in season locally. In Santa Barbara, tomatoes and cucumbers thrive during the warmer months, making them the perfect veggies for your salad. I highly recommend walking down Santa Barbara’s State Street on a Saturday morning to pick up some community-grown produce. When it comes to the noodles, really anything will suffice: My favorite shape for pasta salad is orzo. The small noodles are the perfect size to scoop each ingredient of the salad onto your spoon. This recipe can be modified according to your taste; after all, it’s hard to screw up a bowl of your favorite veggies! 

Summertime pasta salad

Time: 30 minutes

Servings: 5

Ingredients:

  • 1 box of orzo (or your pasta of choice)
  • 1 cup chickpeas
  • 1 bag of arugula
  • 3 Roma tomatoes
  • 2 English cucumbers
  • 1 red onion
  • 1 cup feta cheese
  • Juice of 1 lemon
  • ¼ cup olive oil
  • ¼ cup red wine vinegar 
  • Salt and pepper to taste

Instructions:

  1. Rinse chickpeas and place them into the oven at 450°F for 15 minutes
  2. Cook pasta according to box instructions, then drain and cool in the fridge for a few minutes
  3. While the pasta cools, dice your tomatoes, cucumbers and red onion
  4. In a bowl, mix together the oil, vinegar and lemon juice to make the dressing
  5. In a large bowl, mix together the chickpeas, pasta, vegetables, cheese and dressing
  6. Add salt and pepper to taste

This pasta salad is the perfect way to wrap up summertime and sneak in some fresh Santa Barbara veggies. Either enjoy it with friends, or refrigerate it to eat throughout the week. Happy summer, Gauchos!

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