Gut Healthy Corn and Summer Squash Pasta Salad
Come mid-summer in the south, we always have so much corn and summer squash at the farmers’ market. Since I’m on a pasta salad kick, I figured I would test some recipes for a summer gut health pasta salad using these ingredients! I think pasta salad is my favorite dish to make for gut health. How can a pasta dish possibly be good for gut health, you ask? It’s all about ingredient quality:
- A pasta salad should taste delicious and be enjoyable to eat. Salads should never be boring, and enjoying your food is essential for gut health.
- Choose organic, non-GMO, bronze-cut pasta for the best texture and taste. If you prefer gluten-free options, brown rice pasta is also a flavorful choice.
- Select organic vegetables! For this pasta salad, I use organic summer vegetables: summer squash, zucchini, and corn from our local farmers’ market.
- Opt for organic, high-quality dairy. Feta is my top pick for pasta salads.
- Use a homemade probiotic salad dressing. Homemade dressings help avoid unnecessary ingredients often found in store-bought versions. A probiotic salad dressing can also support the digestion of fresh and cooked vegetables. My favorite summery dressing for this recipe is my sun-dried tomato balsamic vinaigrette.
Probiotic Salad Dressings
So many salad dressings pair well with this summer gut health pasta salad. You can totally use your favorite store-bought dressing if you’re crunched for time. If you’re like me and love making salad dressing at home, you can try any of these dressing recipes:
Pasta Salad with Summer Squash
In my opinion, no pasta salad is complete without something pickled or fermented! Summer is the best time for salad, and it just so happens to also be the best time for making pickles, so I always throw some fermented pickles into my pasta salads! Feel free to use any of your favorite pickles in this recipe. Even store-bought or water bath-canned pickles work great. Here are all the pickles I’ve made this summer that I tested in this recipe:
Meal Prepping Summer Squash Pasta Salad
This pasta salad serves 4 at 1x. So you can totally meal prep it. It lasts great in the fridge for about 4 days. Here are some meal prepping tips:
- Cook your pasta in salted water according to the package directions.
- Cook and chop all the vegetables and feta cheese, then mix with the pasta. (Just keep the dressing on the side).
- Divide the finished pasta salad evenly into four separate airtight containers. This makes grab-and-go lunches or dinners easy throughout the week.
- Store the dressing in small, airtight containers on the side. Add about two tablespoons per serving when ready to eat to keep the pasta and vegetables fresh.
- Serve with grilled chicken or rotisserie chicken for protein.
Grilled Corn and Summer Squash Pasta Salad
A fun, delicious, and refreshing way to use up all that summer squash! Liven up your summer salad rotation with this grilled corn and summer squash pasta salad. Pair it with my probiotic sun-dried tomato vinaigrette for a super gut-healthy meal!
- Prep: 25 minutes
- Cook: 25 minutes
- Total Time: 50 minutes
Ingredients
- 8 ounces pasta, dry
- 1 large zucchini
- 1 large yellow squash
- 2 cups fire roasted corn, frozen*
- 1/2 cup fermented pickles, chopped
- 2 cups arugula
- 1/2 cup feta crumbled
- 1/2 cup sun-dried tomato vinaigrette
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- Salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Please see notes on summer grilling!
- Make the sun dried tomato vinaigrette if you haven’t already. And go ahead and chop up the pickles.
- Cook the pasta in salted water according to the package directions. Drain the pasta when it is done cooking.
- While your pasta cooks, wash the squash and zucchini. Slice off the ends, and then cut them in half long ways. Brush the insides with olive oil.
- Heat a cast iron skillet over medium. Place the squash and zucchini in the hot skillet, inside face down. Cook until nicely caramelized and browned (about 5 minutes; you can flip them to get some browning on the skins too) then remove from heat, but leave the skillet on.
- Add the frozen fire roasted corn to the skillet and cook until heated through (about 5 minutes)
- Sliced the cooked squash and zucchini halves.
- Add everything to a large bowl and toss to combine.
- Please leave a five-star review if you loved this easy recipe!
Notes
- If you have an outdoor grill: In the summer I highly recommend grilling fresh corn, halved zucchini, and halved yellow squash. Once grilled you can slice the corn from the cobb and chop the summer squash for the pasta salad.
