Memorial Day Gluten-Free Pasta Salads: Pasta with Romanesco Cauliflower, Pasta with Olives and Walnuts

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Going to a Memorial Day BBQ? Pasta salads are an easy made-ahead side dish that can feed a crowd. These are just two examples of pasta salads that you can make. Improvise some, add in some cheese for an extra rich variety. Or, some bacon instead of the tuna in the Romanesco cauliflower pasta salad.

Whatever you do, make these ahead of time, kick off your shoes and enjoy the BBQ.

Ingredients:

  • 1 head Romanesco Cauliflower, cut into florets
  • 1 can Solid White Tuna, drained
  • 1/2 cup Olive Oil
  • 2 cups Pasta, cooked (I used gluten-free rice pasta like this one from Tinkyada)
  • 3 Tbsps Capers, drained
  • 4 Pickled Italian Cherry Peppers

Method:

  • Boil a large pot of salted water.
  • Chop the peppers into small pieces, removing the stems.
  • Once the water has boiled, add the pasta and a steamer basket on top of the pasta to parboil the romanesco cauliflower.
  • Cook the romanesco for 3 minutes with the lid on.
  • While the pasta/romanesco is boiling, heat a large skillet over high heat.
  • Put the olive oil and the tuna in the saute pan and cook for 1 minute on high heat.
  • Add the parboiled romanesco to the saute pan and cook for five minutes, or until beginning to brown.
  • Put the capers and peppers in with the romanesco and cook for three minutes.
  • Drain the pasta, rinse in cool water and  put in a large bowl.
  • Mix the pasta and the tuna/romaesco mixture together and enjoy!

Pasta with Olives and Walnuts

Ingredients:

  • 1/2 cupLindsay chopped black olives, drained
  • 1/4 cup walnuts, chopped
  • 1 lb pasta spirals (I used gluten-free rice pasta like this one from Tinkyada)
  • 4 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1/2 diced red onion
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 1/4 tsp fresh ground black pepper
  • 1/8 tsp red pepper flakes
  • 4 tbsps Olive Oil, divided, plus some for drizzling at end

Method:

  1. Set a large pot of salted water on the stove to boil for pasta.
  2. Put drained, chopped olives in a bowl, add 2 cloves minced garlic, salt, pepper and *red pepper flakes.
  3. Leave to marinate while pasta water boils, and pasta cooks.
  4. Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat.
  5. Add 2 tbsps olive oil to pan, swirl to coat.
  6. Lower heat to medium, add remaining 2 cloves of minced garlic, and chopped red onions.
  7. Sautee until golden, then reduce heat to low.
  8. Add chopped walnuts, moving them around in the pan so they brown evenly.
  9. Cook pasta according to directions on box.
  10. Just before it’s cooked through, add marinated olives to the onion, garlic, walnut mixture.
  11. Raise heat to medium. Heat until olives are just warmed.
  12. Drain pasta and place in large bowl.
  13. Pour onion, garlic, walnut and olive mixture over pasta and mix.
  14. Drizzle olive oil over mixed pasta, add a pinch of salt and *red pepper flakes.
  15. Serve and enjoy!

Veggies in the Oven: Cauliflower Gratin and Roasted Asparagus

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 These two vegetable dishes are super easy to make and can be used as either a side dish or with some small additions, as a main dish. The roasted asparagus can be served with pasta and a poached egg, as a main dish. If you like, you can add bacon to the cauliflower gratin to make it just that much heartier.

Featured on The Fruit Guys website, here and here.

Cauliflower Gratin

Ingredients

  • 1 head cauliflower, cut into florets, steamed for five minutes
  • ¼ cup breadcrumbs (regular or Glutino gluten-free)
  • ¼ cup grated Parmesan
  • Salt and pepper to taste

Preparation

  1. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.
  2. Put the cauliflower into a casserole dish. Cover with breadcrumbs, grated Parmesan cheese, salt and pepper.
  3. Bake for 20 minutes, until the breadcrumbs are browned and cheese is melted.

Roasted Asparagus

Ingredients

  • 1 bunch asparagus stalks, bottoms trimmed off
  • 3 tablespoons olive oil
  • Salt and pepper to taste

Preparation

  1. Preheat the oven to 450.
  2. Place asparagus on a rimmed baking sheet and pour olive oil evenly over the top. Turn the asparagus over a few times to coat all sides in the olive oil.
  3. Roast in the oven for 20 minutes, until the stalks become browned and wilted.