Summer’s freshest vegetables come together with pasta in this satisfying Whole Wheat Orzo Ratatouille Oil-Free Vegetable Pasta Salad. This makes a great whole foods, plant-based dish for a picnic or serve at a summer party as a vegan side. All the flavors of the garden in your bowl!
Enjoy with Grilled Asparagus Kalamata Olive Salad, Super Green Gluten-Free Quinoa Veggie Burger Sliders, Ultimate Vegan Portobello Mushroom Burgers and Chickpea Garden Veggie Burgers.
If you like this recipe, you’ll also love: Charred Zucchini and Summer Squash Quinoa Salad, Summer Squash Farmer’s Market Legume Rice Risotto, Pasta “alla Norma” – Eggplant with Gluten-Free Chickpea Cavatappi Pasta and Spicy Red Sauce, and Summer Farmers Market: The Best Oil-Free, Plant-Based Vegan Recipes
What is Ratatouille?
Ratatouille is the iconic vegetable stew signature to the Provence region in Southern France. Here, the weather is warm, the sun shines bright, and vegetables grow well. This recipe originated in Nice as a way to celebrate the late-summer harvest, featuring vegetables like eggplant, zucchini, bell pepper, and tomatoes. Fresh herbs like thyme, basil, and oregano are often added, as well as fresh garlic.
For this recipe, I simply took all of those same flavors and summer ingredients and applied them to pasta salad. Another delicious way to enjoy the garden’s bounty!
How to Make an Oil-Free, Whole Foods, Plant-Based Pasta Salad
Typical pasta salads use refined white pasta and are loaded with heavy oily or mayo-based dressings. For this oil-free, whole foods, plant-based pasta salad, I’ve made a few simple changes to keep the flavor while also bumping up the nutrition:
- Use Whole Grain Pasta. This is a no-brainer. You can easily swap out your white pasta for any whole grain, bean, or lentil pasta. For pasta salad, it’s best to keep small shapes. Whole wheat orzo pasta is great for this recipe, but you can also use chickpea rice, lentil penne, or any other similar whole foods pasta.
- Roast the Veggies Oil-Free. Ditch the oil and simple roast the eggplant, zucchini, and bell pepper without any oil. These vegetables already have a ton of water so roasting without oil will actually help intensify the flavor and avoid a mushy texture.
- Use Good-Quality Vegetables. In a recipe as simple as this, it’s important to use good-quality vegetables. You want ripe, heirloom tomatoes, fresh zucchini, crisp bell peppers, and firm eggplant. If you can’t find these, you can swap out with other vegetables. Sweet onion, summer squash, and green bell peppers would all work well.
- Make-Ahead Tip: This salad (like most pasta salads) gets even better after it sits for a day or two. Make it ahead of time and bring to room temperature about 30 minutes before serving.
Chef Katie’s Plant-Based Cooking Tips:
Italian Herbs: You can swap out the dried thyme and oregano and use a pre-made Italian herb mix. Use 1 teaspoon for this recipe. Feel free to add other fresh herbs like basil and thyme.
Single Layer Roasting: Be sure not to overcrowd your baking sheet, laying the vegetables into just a single layer. Use two sheet pans if needed.
Gluten-Free: For a gluten-free version of this recipe, use gluten-free pasta. Orzo might be hard to find, but fusilli, shells, or another small shape pasta would work. You can also use a wild rice pilaf, short grain rice, or quinoa.
The Perfect Topping for Orzo Salad: Vegan Tofu Feta
Whole Wheat Orzo Ratatouille Oil-Free Vegetable Pasta Salad
- Medium
- Servings: 4
- Ready In: 35 minutes
- Yield: about 6 cups
Whole Wheat Orzo Ratatouille Oil-Free Vegetable Pasta Salad
Ingredients
- 1 baby eggplant like a Chinese eggplant or Japanese eggplant
- 1 bell pepper any color
- 1 zucchini
- 1 teaspoon fresh thyme
- 1 teaspoon fresh oregano
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 6 ounces whole wheat orzo pasta about 1 1/4 cups
- 2 small heirloom tomatoes or one large
- 1/4 cup fresh chopped parsley
Instructions
To Roast the Oil-Free Ratatouille Vegetables:
- While the oven and water heat up, prep your vegetables. Dice the bell pepper, eggplant, and zucchini into large, bite-sized pieces. Line a baking sheet with parchment or a non-stick silicon baking mat. Spread the vegetables on a baking sheet in a single layer. Sprinkle them with the thyme, oregano, salt and pepper. Roast at 450F for 25-30 minutes, stirring every 10-12 minutes, until browned around the edges.
To Boil the Whole Wheat Orzo Pasta:
- When the water is at a rolling boil, add the pasta and stir. Cook according to package directions, about 8-10 minutes. Be sure not to overcook or you’ll have mushy pasta. It should still have a “bite”.
- When the pasta is ready, reserve about 1 cup of the pasta cooking liquid. Drain the pasta and immediately rinse under cold water. Rinse until completely chilled, about 30 seconds. Drain well.
- Dice the tomatoes. Retain as much of the juices as you can. Place them in a large bowl.
- Remove the stems of the parsley and chop well. Add it to the bowl with the tomatoes.
- Add the cooked pasta to this bowl.
To make the Whole Wheat Orzo Ratatouille Vegetable Pasta Salad:
- When the vegetables are done roasting, remove them from the oven. While they are still warm, add the roasted vegetables to the large bowl with the orzo, tomatoes and parsley. Stir well to combine.
- Add a couple tablespoons of the reserved pasta cooking liquid, to make a creamier salad. Depending on your taste, you might add just 2 tablespoons or up to 1/2 cup. The juiciness of the tomatoes will also affect how wet your pasta salad becomes.
- Taste to adjust seasoning and serve. Best enjoyed at room temperature.
Notes
Nutrition Facts
Serving size: 1/4 of a recipe (about 1 1/2 cups).
Calories 95.1
Calories From Fat (8%) 7.44
% Daily Value
- Total Fat 0.9g 1%
- Saturated Fat 0.09g <1%
- Cholesterol 0mg 0%
- Sodium 156.82mg 7%
- Potassium 445.65mg 13%
- Total Carbohydrates 20.47g 7%
- Fiber 5.9g 24%
- Sugar 6.17g
- Protein 4.1g 8%
- Calcium 58.09mg 6%
- Iron 30.69mg 171%
- Vitamin A 1630.4IU 33%
- Vitamin C 797.64mg 1329%
Shopping and Gear List
- Baron’s Kosher Orzo Whole Wheat Pasta
- McCORMICK Culinary Thyme Leaves
- GUSTUS VITAE CONDIMENTS Taste Tuscany
- Beyond Gourmet 42 Unbleached Non-Stick Parchment Paper
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