At Ajpal, I add lots of tips in all of my recipes – because I am a home cook without any formal training, and I find I am more confident making dishes when I understand why it works, and what each ingredient means to the flavor of a recipe. My goal is for even the most beginner home cook to feel empowered in the kitchen.

Every Sunday, a few families at our church come together to provide a quick meal for our fellowship hour.

Being Orthodox, this can create a few tricky issues, since we often fast from meat, dairy, and even sometimes olive oil!

Antipasti pasta salad- vegan and perfect for a crowd!

Coming up with snacks on those days is always a bit fussy- a person can only eat so many bean salads and crudités with hummus!

The last fellowship hour we had, I wanted to make a pasta salad of some kind – but taking olive oil out of the equation seemed a bit tricky- and finding a way to sneak in a little extra protein did as well.

Luckily, this antipasti pasta salad can be made completely without olive oil (simply check the packaging for the ingredients, and opt for sunflower or water packed items).

this easy pasta salad has a ton of delicious antipasti flavor!

There is so much flavor in this pasta salad, you’ll want to make it year round.

And if you’re not sticking to a vegan diet, you could totally pop in some prosciutto, pepperoni, or thinly sliced salami to liven things up!

This pasta salad has a ton of anti pasti flavor and is so quick and easy!

This makes for a perfect dish to share with a crowd, and is a huge hit. Don’t be surprised when your pan comes back empty!

I’ve even seen some paleo-approved pastas (at our local grocery store in Colorado there is a brand in the deli refrigerators that makes almond flour pasta,

Pro tips:

-You can make this pasta salad any size, and with any shape of pasta. Simply scale the recipe up (I double it for church or parties)

-Make this gluten free by opting for gluten free pasta brands!