Lemon Basil Spring Pasta Salad

(Keep Your Diet Real)

This is a very clean tasting salad. It’s loaded with lots of fresh spring vegetables and works really well as a side dish or as an entrée. Enjoy!

Cook Time:

Prep Time:

Total Time:

Servings: 6

Ingredients:

1/2 pound orecchiette pasta

1 “Bunch” (about 1 cup chopped) fresh asparagus spears, blanched

1 cup shredded carrots, blanched

1/2 cup edamame

1 Can artichoke hearts in water, rinsed and drained (sliced in half if needed)

1 Can (15 oz) garbanzo beans, rinsed and drained

1 cup cherry tomatoes, diced

Fresh basil, rinsed and roughly chopped, about 1/4 cup

The juice of 1 lemon

2 tablespoon olive oil

2 tablespoon red wine vinegar

Sea salt and fresh black pepper (to taste)

Preparation:

In a sauce pan, cook pasta until al dente. Drain, rinse with cold water and place into a large mixing bowl.

In a separate sauce pan, bring 6-8 cups of water to a boil, submerge asparagus spears and shredded carrots for 60-90 seconds. Remove with slotted spoons and place in bowl of ice cold water (to stop cooking process). Veggies should be very bright in color and slightly tender.

To the large mixing bowl with the cooked pasta, add edamame, artichoke hearts, garbanzo beans, and tomatoes then stir.

Now add basil, lemon juice, olive oil, vinegar, salt and pepper and toss.

Serve at room temperature.