One of my favorite summer treats is pasta salad. I WILL literally snack on a bowl of pasta salad throughout the day every day. There’s something so crave-able about that it even tastes different each day. With all my experience making pasta salads, I’ve never made it with just pure grilled veggies. It’s DELICIOUS! The flavor of the charred vegetables amplifies the pasta, vinaigrette, and fresh herbs. Especially as it sits.

Start with some a selection of mild vegetables. These are your yellow squash, zucchini and eggplant. Grilling them will amp up their natural flavors and be the bulk to final salad outside of the pasta. Try not to go crazy with the seasoning unless you plan on altering the recipe because all that seasoning will rub off in your pasta salad.

Now we focus on the vegetables that are going to add some serious flave-uh! If you grilled your squash well, these can totally be substituted in ways that serve your pasta salad needs. I enjoy grilled onion and grilled peppers, but you can substitute for roasted peppers, caramelized onions, raw onion or even raw pepper. These veggies have so much flavor that as they sit with the pasta they can’t help but share the love with the rest of the veggies.

BE SURE to make this pasta salad ahead. A cardinal mistake of rookie pasta salad makers. Nobody wants a pasta salad that was made less than an hour ago. The flavor will suffer greatly. Give your vegetables and pasta a chance to bloom with all the ingredients. It’s like jumping into a pool after just applying sunblock. It’s not going to be as effective as waiting a few minutes.

This is one of those great recipes to prepare the night before AT LEAST two hours before. Don’t forget to stir the salad up before serving and tasting for flavor. Most likely you will find it needs more acid/oil/salt.

I went full steam ahead with the grill vibe and I stand by my choice.