Social media can truly be a great place to find inspiration for new food. Inspired by the green goddess salad from Baked by Melissa, this recipe retains all the main textures and flavors combined with delicious pasta shells. The dressing is what really makes the dish so wonderful, but feel free to customize it with different green veggie choices or some fresh parmesan cheese!
The Dressing Ingredients
For the delicious dressing you will need:
- Half a cup of olive oil
- 2 lemons
- A cup of baby spinach leaves
- 1 and ¼ cups of basil leaves
- ¼ cup of cashews
- 2 garlic cloves
- A third of a cup of grated parmesan cheese or nutritional yeast
- A teaspoon of salt
- Half a teaspoon of black pepper
The Pasta Ingredients
The remaining ingredients to complete the recipe:
- A pound of medium pasta shells
- 1 tablespoon of salt
- 1 and ½ cups of frozen peas
- 12 stalks of green asparagus chopped into half-inch pieces
- 6 ounces of pitted and roughly chopped green olives
- 1 cored and thinly sliced fennel bulb
- 3 thinly sliced scallions
- 3 tablespoons of finely chopped chives
Time to Put the Dish Together
Add a tablespoon of salt to a large pot of water and bring it to a boil. In the meantime, zest the lemons and set the zest aside. Juice the lemons and pour three tablespoons of lemon juice into a blender. Add the olive oil, spinach, basil, garlic, nutritional yeast, cashews, salt, and pepper. Blend until you see a smooth consistency.
Put the pasta into the boiling water from before. Two minutes before the shells are cooked, add the frozen peas and asparagus. Once cooked, drain the pot through a colander. Rinse with cold water. Leave it to drain. In a large bowl, combine the cooked shells and veggies with the scallions, chives, lemon zest, olives, and fennel. Pour in the dressing. Toss to coat everything evenly. Season to your taste!