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There is nothing more fun than eating outside. Picnic Extra Lemon Pasta Salad will make you want to have dinner outside every night. Fresh, clean, light ingredients with lots of lemons give the pasta salad extra freshness.  My family loves to eat outside on our deck and pasta salad is one of our favorite dishes.

Picnic Extra Lemon Pasta Salad dish is a side dish however, you can check out this recipe for our family’s traditional Chicken Pasta Salad. I have been making it for years and my kids love it and ask for it each week in the summer.

Everybody loves pasta salad. Picnic Extra Lemon Pasta Salad is the perfect dish for having dinner in the fresh air. It’s easy to prepare and so delicious, especially on a hot summer day.

You don’t need a big occasion to enjoy a delicious pasta salad. Picnic Extra Lemon Pasta Salad comes together in minutes and will have everyone begging for second helpings. This extra citrusy pasta salad is the perfect way to end any summer meal or potluck.

Picnic Extra Lemon Pasta Salad is a great dish that can be taken on picnics, potlucks, or extended family dinners. Nothing beats the flavors of extra lemons and pasta tossed in olive oil, lemon juice, and spices – so enjoy!

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Extra Lemon Pasta Salad Perfect Side Dish for Kids

Give pasta salads a try for a fun side dish or a veggie main dish. I know pasta salad will become a tradition in your home. The lemon juice helps make the pasta salad extra fresh.

Most kids like pasta and like most kids and ours they like them plain. Start introducing veggies in a pasta dish is a good way to mix a food they love with a new taste. I use a large chop on the veggies so if any of them are objected to the veggie is easily pushed to the side.

Each one of my kids would set their disliked veggie to the side, but by the time they reached their late teens everyone was eating all of each pasta salad, I would make. 

How to Make an Extra Lemon Pasta Salad

1. Put a large pot of water on to boil.
2. Cook each box of pasta separately for the time on the box. (We like our Al Dente).  Drain and cool completely. (This can be done early in the day as the pasta should be cold.)
3. Next, chop all of the other vegetables, I use a Vidalia Onion Chop Wizard as it makes all the veggies the same size.
4. Drain and rinse the can of chickpeas.
5. Cube the Provolone Cheese.
6. Zest the rind of the 2 lemons with a zester.
7. In a large bowl mix the pasta, orzo, spinach, chickpeas, bell pepper, onion, English cucumber, basil, celery, celery seed, and lemon zest and mix lightly. 
8. Squeeze all the lemon juice from the 2 lemons with a lemon reamer. Add to the pasta.
9. Next, add the Garlic Expressions Salad Dressing (you can add more or less depending on your taste)
10. Mix well & refrigerate.
11. Add the Provolone Cheese just before serving.

Tips for making Pasta Salad

• Pasta salads are so easy to toss together. The pasta can be made the night before and put in the refrigerator. This way when it is time for dinner the next night the pasta is already cooked.
• I also have another time-saving method I use when trying to keep up with everyday mom life. One of the best pieces of advice I ever received from an older mom was to chop the veggies at noon and put them in containers ready to mix at dinner time.
• What a simple idea but so practical. If you are making lunch and have the cutting board and knife already in use, just take a few more minutes to chop what you need for dinner.

Supplies Needed:

• Cutting Board
• Veggie Chopper
• Mixing Bowls
• Spatula
• Lemon Reamer
• Lemon Zester

Picnic Lemon Garlic Pasta Salad

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Perfect past salad to pack for a fun family picnic!

• Author: Susan

Ingredients

Units USM Scale 1x2x3x

• 1/2 of a 1 lb box of cooked (about 3 cups) Mini Farfalle Pasta
• 1/2 of a 1 lb box of Cooked (about 3 cups) Orzo Pasta
• 1 cup of baby spinach ruff chop
• 1/2 can of Chick Peas Garbanzo Beans
• 1 Bell Pepper (any color)
• 1/2 of a large onion (sweet or red)
• 1/2 of an English Cucumber
• 4 to 5 Basil leaves chipped thin
• 2 stocks of Celery
• 1/4 tsp Celery Seed
• 2 large Lemon the zest and the juice
• 1 cup of Garlic Expressions Classic Vinaigrette Salad Dressing
• 1 cup of cubed Provolone Cheese

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Instructions

1. Put a large pot of water on to boil.
2. Cook each box of pasta separately for the time on the box. (We like our Al Dente).  Drain and cool completely. (This can be done early in the day as the pasta should be cold.)
3. Next, chop all of the other vegetables, I use a Vidalia Onion Chop Wizard as it makes all the veggies the same size.
4. Drain and rinse the can of chickpeas.
5. Cube the Provolone Cheese.
6. Zest the rind of the 2 lemons with a zester.
7. In a large bowl mix the pasta, orzo, spinach, chickpeas, bell pepper, onion, English cucumber, basil, celery, celery seed and lemon zest and mix lightly. 
8. Squeeze all the lemon juice from the 2 lemons with a lemon reamer. Add to the pasta.
9. Next, add the Garlic Expressions Salad Dressing (you can add more or less depending on your taste)
10. Mix well & refrigerate.
11. Add the Provolone Cheese just before serving.

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