Mediterranean Zucchini Pasta Salad

Mediterranean Zucchini Pasta Salad

Now that it’s officially unofficially summer (ha – see what I did there?), all I...

Mediterranean Zucchini Pasta Salad

Now that it’s officially unofficially summer (ha – see what I did there?), all I have on the mind is fresh, cold summer salads.

I’ve been craving my Italian Zucchini Pasta Salad, but haven’t been eating much meat lately, so I decided to put a vegetarian and Mediterranean spin on it.

My favorite thing to do during the week is stop by the farmer’s market (with my Inspiralized tote bag of course!) and pick up fresh zucchini, mozzarella, tomatoes, and greens and come home, douse it all with salt, pepper, lemon juice and olive oil, maybe shove an avocado in there, and call it a meal.

Mediterranean Zucchini Pasta Salad

It’s the most satisfying type of meal to eat during those super hot summer months! In fact, my goal this summer season is to come up with as many cold noodle salads as possible, to equip us with fresh veggie meals to eat when the temps keep rising.

I’m starting with this Mediterranean Zucchini Pasta Salad. This salad is easy to whip up and includes both fresh and pantry items, for time saving (let’s be honest – once summer hits, we want to spend less and less time in the kitchen.)

I use my favorite canned tomatoes, Tuttorosso Tomatoes, here but if you’re making this and have some fresh tomatoes you need to make use of, dice them up and add them in place of the canned variety. I have to say, Tuttorosso’s canned tomatoes can sometimes be better than the fresh kind!

Mediterranean Zucchini Pasta Salad

The salty feta and soft artichokes pair amazingly with the light red wine and oregano vinaigrette and everything together softens up the longer it all sits together, as the acids from the lemon juice and vinegar “cook” the raw vegetables.

Stay tuned for more fresh, spiralized summer salads!

Note: This post was sponsored by Tuttorosso Tomatoes. As always, all opinions are my own.

Now you can watch a cooking video of this recipe:

 

Nutritional Information & Recipe

Weight Watchers SmartPoints*: 8 points

*These points were calculated using the official Weight Watchers SmartPoints calculator. We are in no way affiliated with Weight Watchers, we are providing this information based on popular demand.

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Mediterranean Zucchini Pasta Salad

Prep Time 30 minutes
Total Time 30 minutes
Servings 6 -8

Ingredients

  • For the salad:
  • 2 medium zucchinis
  • 1 small red onion peeled
  • 1 14.5oz can quartered artichoke hearts, drained
  • 1/2 cup halved pitted kalamata olives
  • 1 cup drained and rinsed canned chickpeas
  • 1/2 cup crumbled feta
  • 1 14.5oz can diced tomatoes, drained
  • For the dressing:
  • 4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
  • 2 tablespoon red wine vinegar
  • 1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
  • 1 teaspoon dried oregano
  • 1/2 teaspoon dried parsley
  • 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
  • 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
  • salt and pepper

Instructions

  • Place all of the ingredients for the dressing into a bowl and whisk together.
  • Slice the zucchinis halfway through lengthwise, careful not to pierce through the center. Spiralize the zucchinis with Blade C and add to a large mixing bowl. Grab the onion and again, slice halfway through lengthwise, careful not to pierce through the center. Spiralize the onion with Blade A and add half of the noodles to the bowl with the zucchini noodles and save the rest for future use. Then add in the artichokes, olives, chickpeas, feta, and diced tomatoes.
  • Pour the prepared dressing over the zucchini salad and toss well to combine. Serve or refrigerate for future use.

Mediterranean Zucchini Pasta Salad

with love, Ali

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Recipe Rating




comments

  • Looks delish! I'll be making this during the upcoming week for sure.
  • I LOVE artichokes! Interesting because I had Mediterranean food last night, haha! This looks amazing!
  • This looks great!
  • I am wondering about the instruction to "slice zucchini and onion halfway through lengthwise, careful not to pierce through the center." I have not encountered that instruction before. Can you please offer more explanation?
    • I am wondering the exact same thing. Anyone?
    • Cutting it like that prevents the !ong strings and instead gives you a shorter, bite size.
  • That salad looks awesome. Since the temp here in AZ. is already in the triple digits; 113 -115 and will stay that way until end of Sept.(ha;ha; it went right through Oct. last year) I need all the cool recipies I can get. A/C does not help hot kitchen. This Wed. I go to my farmers market and will pick up the fresh veggies; I have printed out what I need to get. Ah, a cool yummy supper. Thank you.
    • So glad to hear you'll be able to enjoy this recipe, Allan!
  • I forgot to add I use an electric scooter that has top speed of 8mph; so I have outdoor a/c; I stop under trees and drink plenty of Clearly Filtered water. Yes the sun is pretty harsh and when I get back to my Apt. ; I crash for about four hours. Then I am ready to go again. On my retired income buying a car not an option.
  • Just made this. It looks great and is delicious. So easy to put together.
  • I made this salad the other eve. It was soooooo goooood. I had been to my farmers market and diced 6 roma tomatoes; heavy handed Al went right through one of my yellow zuccini; so I just cut it up and spiralized the rest and cut them up. I have a few other tweak's: I used "Bragg Vinaigrette" 6 tablespoons; I used "Ivys" organic hot mustard, wow what a punch; went through 2 t-shirts, drenched. I do not know if she sells it online; but she lives in AZ. Even going out side to cool down did not help; temp 105. I had been saving it to make something delish; I tasted the salad this eve as I had leftovers to eat and it had tamed down. I had a little problem with the feta cheese all stores I go to there feta contains cellulose(sawdust); humans digestive system not meant to digest sawdust. However I did find two little packages of soft goats milk with no cellulose and crumbeled it myself. However today there is a vendor at my farmers market and she had crumbled goats milk no cellulose, organic. I bought the only two containers she had and I told her I will be a steady customer; so hopefully she will have more next Sat. She only does the Sat. market. My Wed. end next week and then will only have Sat. until Oct. Our triple digit temps here to stay. I hope does not go through Oct. as it did last year. The church where our farmers maket located has huge indoor hall with a/c. I try to make my meals last for six days so I put more in of the other ingrediants and put in air tight container and keep it in the fridge. Same problem with onion heavy handed Al( I do heavy weight lifting 2x a week at the VA) so I'll just spiralize it and cut it up; probably only takes five minutes more and thats okay. Easy to make and it tasted soooooo goooood (hot sauce rush came three seconds after last bite). No wonder you make it a lot during summer months. I love your spiralizer; best investment for a kitchen tool ; I ever made. Keep your cool, quick and easy (minus heavy handed Al) recipies coming. You make creating new recipie's fun. Thank you.
    • So happy to hear you're enjoying the recipes and the Inspiralizer! We really appreciate your support, Allan. Stay cool!
  • Made this in the morning just before heading to work and it was delicious. Few tweaks, left out the olives and red onion, halved the recipe and added a little bit more lemon juice and salt. Will definitely be making again! Hearty, yet light and delicious of course.
  • Fun variation on Italian Zucchini Pasta Salad. I would be hard-pressed to say which I like better - they are both great and may cause cravings!
  • I haven't been good about using my Spiralizer but just made this and I am totally inspired! Wow, it was SO delicious exactly as the recipe is. Now I need to find more salads to make!
  • I read this post completely about the difference of most recent and preceding technologies, it's amazing article.
  • Hello! How far ahead of time can you make this? Thanks!!!
    • This will stay good for a few days, it will stay better if you add the dressing when serving!