Roasted Pepper Pasta Salad with Simple Vinaigrette
Refreshing Pasta Salad with Roasted Red Peppers and Caramelized onions makes for the best lunch or a side with some crusty bread. If you are planning Holiday lunch, make sure to include this on your menu.
Servings: 4 Servings
Calories: 390kcal
Equipment
- Large Bowl
- Heavy Cast Iron Pan
- whisk
Ingredients
For the salad -
- 1 cup Elbow Pasta
- 1 ½ cups Onion thinly sliced
- 8 oz Roasted Pepper from a jar or 1 large red pepper roasted
- 1 Cucumber small cubed
- Cheese I used pepper jack - based on your liking
- ¼ cup Cilantro chopped and tightly packed
- 1 tablespoon Oil
To make the Red Wine Vinaigrette Dressing -
- 2 tablespoon Red wine vinegar
- 4 tablespoon Olive oil
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- ¼ Garlic powder of freshly minced garlic
- Salt to taste
- Pepper to taste
Instructions
To make the Vinaigrette dressing -
- Combine all the ingredients except oil in a small bowl and mix well to combine. Now whisk the mixture and drizzle in the olive oil to blend it. The dressing is now ready. Keep it aside until the pasta salad is ready.
To make the Pasta Salad -
- Cook the pasta according to the label instructions. Drain the cooked pasta and rinse it cold water to avoid further cooking.
- Meanwhile heat a cast iron or any heavy bottom skillet and add the oil to it. When the oil heats up, add the sliced onions and just enough salt for the onions.
- Mix well and let it cook / caramelize over low heat. It will take about 10 to 15 minutes for the onions to caramelize.
- Let the onions cool a bit and in the meantime, chop and prepare the rest of the ingredients.
- Chop the roasted pepper into bite size pieces and place it in a large bowl.
- Add the caramelized onions, cilantro, cooked pasta, cucumbers to the same bowl and combine.
- Drizzle the dressing over the salad and mix gently to evenly combine.
- Add the cheese if using and toss and serve at room temperature or cold.
Nutrition
Calories: 390kcal | Carbohydrates: 36g | Protein: 10g | Fat: 23g | Saturated Fat: 8g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 2g | Monounsaturated Fat: 12g | Cholesterol: 15mg | Sodium: 882mg | Potassium: 375mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 5g | Vitamin A: 568IU | Vitamin C: 35mg | Calcium: 163mg | Iron: 1mg