Mediterranean Pasta Salad with Beans
Stop making pasta salads that taste like yesterday's leftovers. This Mediterranean orzo pasta salad with beans is fresh, healthy, and so satisfying, you'll forget it's technically a salad. Honestly, I love it so much I often make it my lunch.
Servings: 4 servings
Calories: 627kcal
Ingredients
- 10.6 oz dried white cannellini beans see note#1 for canned beans
- 8.5 oz orzo see note#2
- 2 cups grape tomatoes sliced
- ½ cup onion finely chopped
- ½ bunch fresh parsley chopped
- 3 tablespoons capers or sliced and pitted olives
- 4 teaspoons dried thyme or oregano
- 4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- Salt to taste
- Black pepper to taste
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice or wine vinegar or to taste
Optional:
- 8 oz feta cheese cubed
Instructions
- Fill a large bowl with water and add enough salt until it tastes like seawater. Add the beans and soak for at least 8 hours or overnight.Rinse well, transfer to a pot, fill with fresh water and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to a gentle simmer and cook for 35-40 minutes or until tender. Rinse with cold water and drain.
- While beans are cooking, cook the pasta in a separate pot according to the package instructions.Rinse with cold water and drain.
- Transfer the beans, pasta, tomatoes, onion, parsley, capers, thyme, olive oil, salt, pepper and lemon juice to a large bowl. Toss well, taste and adjust the salt, lemon juice and thyme if needed. Serve.
Notes
Servings estimated as main dish. If you serve this salad as a side dish, it will yield twice as many servings.
Note #1: 10.6 oz (300 g) dry cannellini beans cook up to about the same yield as the drained beans from two 15.5 oz cans. Rinse and drain the beans from the can before using them.
Note #2: Instead of orzo, you can use orecchiette, penne, fusilli, farfalle or elbow macaroni. Use whole wheat pasta for more fiber and a healthier dish, or gluten-free pasta if you don't eat gluten.
You can also use this ladolemono dressing for this salad.
More salad recipes to try:
Nutrition
Calories: 627kcal | Carbohydrates: 97g | Protein: 27g | Fat: 16g | Saturated Fat: 2g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 2g | Monounsaturated Fat: 10g | Sodium: 773mg | Potassium: 1747mg | Fiber: 15g | Sugar: 6g | Vitamin A: 1268IU | Vitamin C: 25mg | Calcium: 237mg | Iron: 11mg
