Caesar Pasta Salad

Caesar salad and I are great friends. We often hang out together on a warm summer night with a glass of cool white wine. But this summer I've gotten a little bored with my old friend and decided that she needed a little sprucing up, so I introduced a little pasta, veggies, and beans into the mix. And talk about hitting it off, this salad is amazing. 

My favourite thing about this salad, besides the Caesar dressing, are the zucchini ribbons I tossed in. They were lightly heated with the warm pasta, so they wilted slightly and were warm. I know I'm going to toss them in to a lot more pasta salads too. 

Caesar Pasta Salad - serves 4

2 cups dry small pasta, I used rotini
1 zucchini, ends sliced off and peeled into ribbons with a vegetable peeler
1/2 red onion, finely chopped
1 tomato, chopped
1 avocado, chopped
1 can white beans, drained and rinsed
1/3 cup Parmesan cheese, grated 

1/3 cup olive oil
1/2 cup plain yogurt
2 teaspoons lemon juice
1 tablespoon mustard
2 cloves garlic, minced
Salt and pepper, to taste 

1. Start by boiling your pasta until cooked to desired doneness. 

2. While pasta is cooking make your salad dressing. Combine olive oil, plain yogurt, lemon juice, mustard, garlic, salt, and pepper in a small bowl. Stir until well combined.

3. Drained cooked pasta and toss warm pasta with onion and zucchini. This will both cool the pasta and warm the onion and zucchini.

4. Next add in remaining veggies, as much salad dressing as you desire, and cheese. Toss gently to combine and enjoy!

I usually only use about half of my dressing so I always have enough left for a big traditional Ceasar salad the next night, yum!