My most popular post to date is my Farmer’s Market Salad – a simple salad thrown together after a completely fulfilling morning at the Farmer’s Market with my dad.
Nearly a year ago, this little recipe has served me well. More of a guideline than a recipe, it’s surprised me how popular it has been. Infinitely interchangeable and adaptable, the Farmer’s Market Salad has served me well throughout this last year as the seasons change and produce varies.
In the summer it’s crisp, fresh vegetables picked hours before. In the winter it’s roasted and warm and comforting: squashes and greens, citrus and nuts.
It’s a very basic thing, when I’m hungry. Chop up a few fresh vegetables, thrown on a little olive oil and vinegar or homemade vinaigrette. Toss. Enjoy.
So why it took me nearly a year to include pasta is beyond me.
One of the first things I did when I went gluten-free was to seek out a tasty pasta. And thankfully I stumbled onto Jovial Food’s brown rice pasta at my local health food store. It’s so very near traditional wheat pasta that I can hardly tell the difference, but with a little something extra – a nuttiness, perhaps – that the brown rice provides. I’m quite sure that, if I was able to, I wouldn’t ever go back to regular pasta again.
Like the original Farmer’s Market Salad, this pasta salad is completely adaptable to your vegetable supplies at hand and what’s fresh at the market that day. So play around with it! It’s more of a guideline than a recipe anyway!
Farmer’s Market Pasta Salad
Serves 2
3 ounces uncooked gluten-free pasta (I like Jovial)
1 cup broccoli florets
1 cup yellow wax beans (regular green beans would work too)
1 carrot, julienned
1 large radish, julienned
1/2 cup cherry tomatoes, roughly chopped
1/4 cup chopped or thinly sliced green olives
1/3 cup whole grain mustard vinaigrette, recipe follows
salt and pepper, to taste
Begin by bringing a medium pot of well-salted water to boil. Have a bowl of ice water standing by. Boil the broccoli and the wax beans for three minutes, and then remove them to the bowl of ice water to stop cooking. Drain well.
In the same pot, bring more well-salted water to boil. Cook the gluten-free pasta according to the package instructions. I like Jovial’s brown rice pasta and cooked it for exactly seven minutes. Drain.
In a large bowl, combine the cooked pasta, broccoli, wax beans, carrot, radish, cherry tomatoes, and green olives. Pour in the vinaigrette and toss to coat evenly. Add more salt or pepper, if needed. Serve at room temperature or cold.
Whole Grain Mustard Vinaigrette
1 small clove garlic, minced fine
1/4 cup olive oil
1/2 to 1 Tablespoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon whole grain mustard
salt and pepper, to taste
I like to combine all the ingredients in a small glass jar (like a ball canning jar) and shake well to combine. Taste the vinaigrette and add more of any of the ingredients as needed. This “recipe” is more of a guideline, so feel free to stray from it if you feel your vinaigrette needs more of anything.
The Little Bite 
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