Gluten Free Vegetable Pasta Salad

This is a great dish to make for a party or to use as a side throughout the week. I make a large bowl on Sunday and eat it with lunch throughout the week.  It’s a great side to eat with burgers, salads, sandwiches, or even by itself!  The recipe below lists out the vegetables I regularly use, but you can easily swap out or add any of your favorite vegetables (I think asparagus and/or sugar snap peas would be great additions). Try mixing it up with different vegetables each time you make it.

Shopping List

• 1 lb. (16 oz.) Rice Pasta (I use Trader Joe’s Organic Brown Rice Penne Pasta)
• 1 English Cucumber (chopped)
• 1 cup Cherry Tomatoes
• 1 cup Broccoli (chopped)
• 1/2 cup Carrots (shredded or chopped)
• 1 bottle (8 oz.) Balsamic Vinaigrette Dressing (I use Trader Joe’s)
• 1 Tablespoon Olive Oil

Instructions:

• Bring a large pot of water to boil.  Add bag of rice pasta and cook uncovered, stirring occasionally for 8-10 minutes (until al dente)
• Pour pasta & water in colander over the sink to drain (I use this one HERE)
• Add 1 TBSP Olive Oil to the drained pasta and stir (rice pasta can get sticky and clump together so I’ve found that the olive oil helps it from sticking together)
• Once the pasta is cooled, combine/stir in a large bowl with the tomatoes, chopped cucumber, broccoli, and carrots
• Add about 1/2 of the bottle of dressing and stir until mixed evenly (if you are serving immediately you can add the entire bottle of dressing but if not, I like to wait to add the rest of the dressing until right before it is served)
• Refrigerate until ready to serve