Pink Hibiscus No Mayo Pasta Salad
Bright, creamy, with a little sour zing, this no mayo pasta salad has a silky hibiscus dressing, fresh, crunchy radishes, celery, and bell peppers with some fresh herbs. It’s bright, hearty, and refreshing- perfect as a side or a main dish!
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Brightening up March
It’s been a long winter. A really stinking long, long winter. And it’s getting closer, but it’s not over. I’m super tired (like many of you) of not really seeing anyone staying home all the time, and my summer reprieve of heading out into nature just isn’t as appealing when the days are short and cold. I’m going a little crazy, if truth be told, and there are a lot of days where the miserable gray outside makes it pretty hard to want to get anything done. And while I’m in now way claiming that eating colorful food is a substitute for mental health care, it can take the edge off a gloomy day. Somehow I just can’t be quite as grouchy when my pasta salad is bright pink. The weather is still bad, my feet are still cold, I’m still so ready to be out of this house, but at least my pasta salad is pink. I’ll take what I can get.
Looking for Pink Vegan Recipes? Try one of these!
- Creamy Vegan Black Raspberry Curd
- Hibiscus Flower and White Bean Vegan Tostadas
- Knotweed & Strawberry Compote Over Oatmeal
- Bouquet of Roses Beet & Radish Salad Pizza
- Strawberry Vegan High Protein Smoothie Recipe
- Creamy Pink Hibiscus Salad Dressing
- Homemade Vegan Strawberry Flavored Chocolates
How to Make No Mayo Pasta Salad
Mayo really isn’t integral to a great pasta salad- all you need is a great dressing! For this pasta salad we used some of our hibiscus salad dressing, so go ahead and make a batch of that before you get started. You’re going to need dried hibiscus, vegetable oil, aquafaba (the liquid from a can of chickpeas), garlic, maple syrup, dill, chili powder, and salt and pepper. Once you have your dressing, you can get started making your pasta. Choose a short shape with lots of texture to hold on to your sauce- we used fusilli here, and the little spirals worked wonderfully. Chop all you’re vegetables into nice, bite-sized pieces. Once you cook your pasta, make sure to shock it under cold water to stop it cooking. Otherwise the warm noodles will absorb all the moisture in your dressing, leaving you with a dry pasta salad. After that, mix the pasta, vegetables, and dressing together. You can eat it right away, or you can store it in the fridge for an hour or two to let the flavors marinate together.
Pink Hibiscus No Mayo Pasta Salad
Ingredients
- ½ lb. pasta (something bite-sized with texture, such as fusilli, chifferi, orecchiette, etc.)
- One batch of Hibiscus Dressing
- 1 stalk of celery
- 4-5 mini bell peppers (or 1 large bell pepper)
- 5 small red radishes
- ½ small onion
- A few springs of fresh parsley
Instructions
- Before you get started, prepare a batch of hibiscus salad dressing. Bring a pot of water to a boil, season it with salt, and cook the pasta as directed on the package.
- While the pasta cooks, wash your celery and chop it into small pieces. Cut your mini bell peppers into small rings, and your radishes into small slices. Give the onion a medium-sized dice. Finely chop the parsley, stems and all.
- Drain the pasta, rinse under cold water, and place in a large bowl. Add the vegetables and about 3/4 cup of the hibiscus dressing. Toss well to combine. Add more dressing to taste. Refrigerate until serving, and serve with extra dressing as desired.
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