Charred Scallion Ranch Pasta Salad
Add a smoky twist to your lunch with this Charred Scallion Ranch Pasta Salad! Made with spring vegetables and a tangy dressing.
Servings 8 as a side
Calories 521kcal
Ingredients
Charred Scallion Ranch
- 4 Scallions for charring
- 1 Scallion kept raw
- 1/2 Cup Sour Cream
- 1/2 Cup Mayo
- 1/4 Cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- Juice from 1/2 Lemon freshly squeezed
- 1/2 Tsp Salt or more, to taste
- 1 Tsp Dried Chives
- 1/2 Tsp Dried Dill
- 1/2 Tsp Dried Parsley
- 1/4 Tsp Onion Powder
- 1/2 Tsp Garlic Powder
The Pasta Salad
- 1 Lb Pasta of your choice
- 1 Cup Roasted Asparagus
- 1 Cup Black Eyed Peas or white beans
- 1/2 Cup Pepperoncini chopped
- 1 Cup Jarred Artichoke Hearts in Oil chopped
- 1/2 Red Onion thinly sliced
- 3 Scallions thinly sliced
- 1/2 Cup Feta crumbled
- Piment d'Esplette for garnish, optional
Instructions
Charred Scallion Ranch
- To begin, preheat your grill or grill pan. Once the grill is very hot, add on 4 of your scallions and cook until char marks appear. Flip them over, then char the other side. If desired, put a clean cast iron pan on top of the scallions to press them into the grill and speed up the cooking process.
- Once the scallions are done, let them cool a little.
- Cut off the ends of the charred scallions, and cut off the bottom of the white end on the remaining raw scallion. Then, give them a rough chop.
- Add the chopped raw and charred scallions to a food processor or blender along with the rest of the ingredients. Blend on high until smooth and creamy. Taste, and adjust seasonings to your liking. When done, set aside.
The Pasta Salad
- Cook your pasta according to the box's instructions, making sure the pasta is fully cooked (not al dente). But make sure not to overcook either! When done, rinse the pasta with cold water to stop the cooking process. Pour the pasta into a large mixing bowl, and set aside.
- While the pasta is cooking, prep the rest of the ingredients. Chop up the roasted asparagus, pepperoncini, and artichoke hearts. Slice the red onion, and slice the scallions, discarding the white ends with the filaments on them.
- Add all of the pasta salad ingredients to a bowl, and toss with the scallion ranch dressing. If serving ahead of time, toss with half of the ranch dressing now, then re-mix with the reserved half of the dressing just before serving. If serving now, you can mix everything at once.
- Garnish your pasta with chopped scallions and piment d'Esplette or Aleppo pepper, if desired.
- Enjoy!
Notes
- For this recipe I simply put roasted asparagus as an ingredient so as not to make the list super bulky. To roast asparagus, cut off the woody ends, toss in olive oil, salt, pepper, and a squeeze of fresh lemon juice, then roast at 425 degrees F for 15-20 minutes. However, you can use any roasted spring vegetables you like here.
- I used black eyed peas as my bean element here, but you can really use any bean you'd like. I recommend navy beans, cannellini beans, or chickpeas.
- For the garnish, I used French piment d'Esplette (affiliate link), which is a spicy dried red pepper flake. You can also use Aleppo pepper or red pepper flakes for garnish as well!
- To make this vegan, use vegan mayo and sour cream in the ranch recipe, and omit the feta.
- For the photos I used extra-large Vesuvio pasta that you can buy here (affiliate link!).
Nutrition
Calories: 521kcal | Carbohydrates: 53g | Protein: 13g | Fat: 29g | Saturated Fat: 7g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 8g | Monounsaturated Fat: 10g | Trans Fat: 0.1g | Cholesterol: 30mg | Sodium: 560mg | Potassium: 340mg | Fiber: 5g | Sugar: 4g | Vitamin A: 1063IU | Vitamin C: 16mg | Calcium: 107mg | Iron: 2mg
Tried this recipe?Let me know @wellandfull or tag #wellandfull! :)