Greek Goddess Pasta Salad

This is a deliciously decadent, filling, and easily vegan pasta salad that I made up on the spot to bring to a potluck. It's so versatile, you can add or omit almost anything!

• Preparation Time: 40 mins
• Cooking Time: 10 mins
• Total Time: 50 mins
• Calories: 478 Calories

Ingredients

• ½ teaspoon minced garlic
• 1 small red onion, diced
• 1 small zucchini, chopped
• 1 small yellow bell pepper, chopped
• 1 (12 ounce) jar marinated artichoke hearts, drained and chopped
• 1 small cucumber, chopped
• 4 Roma tomatoes, diced
• 1 (12 ounce) package tri-colored rotini pasta
• 1 small head broccoli, broken into small florets
• 1 (12 ounce) jar pitted kalamata olives, sliced
• 1 (8 ounce) jar roasted red bell peppers, drained, cut into strips
• 1 (12 ounce) jar oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes, drained, cut into strips
• 2 ripe avocados
• 1 (16 ounce) bottle Greek vinaigrette salad dressing

Recipe Instructions

Step 1

Fill a large pot with lightly salted water and bring to a rolling boil over high heat. Once the water is boiling, stir in the pasta, and return to a boil. Cook the pasta uncovered, stirring occasionally, until the pasta has cooked through, but is still firm to the bite, about 10 minutes. Drain well in a colander set in the sink, rinse with cool water and place in a large bowl.

Step 2

Place a steamer insert into a saucepan, and fill with water to just below the bottom of the steamer. Cover, and bring the water to a boil over high heat. Add the broccoli , recover, and steam until just tender, 2 to 6 minutes depending on thickness. Rinse the broccoli with cold water, finely chop, and add to pasta.

Step 3

Stir in the garlic, red onion, artichoke hearts, kalamata olives, roasted red peppers, Roma tomatoes, sun-dried tomatoes, zucchini, cucumber, and yellow pepper and combine well.

Step 4

Cut the avocados in half, remove the pit, and remove from the skin with a large spoon. Cut the avocados into large pieces, place in a small bowl and mash well with a fork. Slowly whisk in the Greek dressing until well combined. Pour the Greek-avocado dressing into the pasta salad and gently toss. Refrigerate for at least one hour before serving.