What makes this pasta salad “healthier” is the homemade Italian dressing. I used to loooove making my mom’s pasta salad recipe, but since we started eating healthier I just had to change it up a little. There were only 3 things I had to adapt in this recipe; I used whole wheat pasta instead of white, I made my own Italian dressing instead of store-bought, and I omitted the salami. I chose to keep the provolone cheese, which is the healthier choice of the two proteins that mom uses. Very easy fixes to make this a healthy pasta salad!
I was a little nervous about making my own dressing, but I got the help of Bill, who is the master dressing maker in our house. He experiments with his salad dressings more than I do for our lunches, so he helped out a lot with the vinegar to oil ratios.
I hope you enjoy this as much as Bill and I did. While he was eating it, he kept shaking his head and saying, “Man, this is really good”… maybe that’ll help in your decision to make this! 
Rachael xoxo
- 1 pound whole wheat fusilli, cooked according to package directions, then rinsed under cold water
- ¼ cup white wine vinegar
- 3 teaspoons Italian seasoning
- ½ clove garlic, grated
- ½ teaspoon honey
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ⅛ teaspoon cracked black pepper
- ½ cup extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 pound provolone cheese, cubed into bite-sized pieces
- 1 pint grape or cherry tomatoes, quartered
- 1-2 cups green onions, depending on preference, thinly sliced
- 1 14.5 ounce can black olives, halved
- 2 teaspoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
- 4 tablespoons fresh basil, chopped
- In a medium bowl add vinegar, Italian seasoning, garlic, honey, salt, and pepper. Add olive oil slowly to the bowl while whisking.
- Place cooked, drained, and rinsed pasta in a large bowl and add only half of the vinegar and oil dressing. Cover and refrigerate the remaining half until later. Then, to the bowl add the cheese, tomatoes, green onions, olives, lemon juice, and basil; stir gently until combined. Cover and chill completely. Just before serving, add the remaining dressing mixture.*
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I guess you can teach your Mom a thing or two………the dressing is GREAT!
Well Mom, I did learn my skillz from you in general!
I have everything to make this, so I think I might have to make it tonight!
Oh cool! Don’t you love it when things work out that way! I hope you like it!
I will be making this this weekend.
I hope you like it, Betty!
Thanks for the recipe. I’m just getting ready to make it!
Cool! Hope you like it!
Made this twice on the weekend….added turkey pepperoni cut up in small pieces and grated fresh parmasan cheese and I also made the dressing in the food processor including extra basil….it was gone in minutes!!!My guest loved it.
Oh yay! I’m so glad it was a hit! I love the additions, sounds great!
I made this tonight.. i substituted the cheese with fresh mozzarella and added red and green peppers. So delicious! Thank you!
You’re very welcome, Connie! I’m glad you liked it, and I love your additions!