Roasted Veggie Pasta Salad

Vegetables roasted in olive oil and mixed with rotini pasta.

Summertime equals more salads at our house.  Everybody likes pasta salad.  I like to include lots of vegetables, and I like them soft but not mushy-just like the pasta. Consequently, I normally steam my vegetables to soften them before I add them to the pasta.  This time I roasted the vegetables in the oven and the salad tastes completely different.  I love it.

The amounts of pasta and vegetables can vary according to your taste.  I listed the vegetables I used.  They take longer to cook than the pasta and need to be started first.

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Roasted Veggie Pasta Salad

Rotini Pasta

Broccoli

Cauliflower

Zucchini

Red Peppers

Roma Tomatoes

Olive Oil

Kosher salt

Pepper

Pitted, Black Olives

Dairy-free Italian salad dressing

Heat oven to 400°. Chop vegetables into bite-sized pieces.  Toss with a little olive oil and a sprinkling of salt and pepper.  Place vegetables in 9×13 glass pan (like I did) or on a foil or parchment lined baking sheet.  Place in oven.  I had too many vegetables in my pan and so it took longer to bake.

Bake about 30 to 40 minutes, depending on how crisp or soft you want your vegetables.  I roasted the vegetables until they shrank and the broccoli tips browned.

While vegetables are roasting, cook rotini pasta according to package directions.  Make sure you salt the boiling water well.

Place well-drained pasta and vegetables in a large bowl.  (I used a rubber scraper to get all of the extra olive oil out of my pan and onto my pasta for flavor.)  Drain a few tablespoons of the black olive juice from the olives into your pasta salad.  Discard the rest of the juice and chop your olives and add to the salad.

This salad tastes great as it is now, or you can add some Italian dressing.  I like the Kraft Zesty Italian, and it is dairy-free.  It doesn’t need much dressing because the vegetables are packed with flavor.