Easy Protein AntiPasto Salad

I made this for a road trip for some of my friends and it was the easiest and healthiest way to fill us up on the way to the lake! I found that even eating it on our stops was mess free and delicious!

What is so great about this recipe is how easy it is to make. You can use pretty much any pasta you like. I used Barilla GF ritonis for this particular batch, but I also tried Banza pasta as well. It had more protein than Barilla that I liked more, but the structure of the pasta struggled to hold its shape.

Once you cook your box of pasta according to the instructions, give it time to cool. This pasta salad is meant to be cold, so you want some time to cool it. Now the most fun part of this whole recipe is finding the right flavors for your salad.

For the vinaigrette, I wanted to go light, lemon and herbal. In a small bowl, add your olive oil, lemon juice, dijon mustard, Italian seasoning, salt, and pepper. Give this a mix and set aside.

For your toppings, I just did what I really like on my anti-pasto. For this salad, chop tomatoes, cucumber, red onion, kalamata olives, pepperoncini, chickpeas, salami, and mozarella balls. Everyone always loves the mozzarella balls! Top off with your dressing and toss all together. I split my pasta into portions and it kept really well in an insulated backpack!