Grilled Summer Vegetable Gnocchi Salad
This twist on a classic pasta salad pairs summer grilled vegetables with feta cheese and gnocchi pasta.
Summer is approaching which means two things. Firstly, it’s summer body time, and secondly it’s time for some summery styled meals. This summer vegetable gnocchi salad is perfect for both those things.
Pasta salads are usually served cold, and when we think of summer salads, we definitely think cold. But here me out, this one is served warm.
At first I was unsure aswell. But once I tried it, absolutely banging. The gnocchi 100 percent needs to be served warm. If you did have it cold it wouldn’t be bad, it just doesn’t taste as nice.
Summer Body Diet
Let me set the scene for you… it’s the first proper sunny day of the year and I’m standing. Chocolate bar in hand. Thinking to myself “gosh, it’s almost summer already, I haven’t even began to try shift my winter weight yet” which gets me frantically searching online for some healthy meals to kick start my summer body plan.
Whenever this happens I need something really tasty to kick things off right. I can’t go from take away pizzas and Jubilee Puddings to rice cakes and cod. I need to ease myself in, which this recipe worked wonders for.
Strictly speaking, you could make this every week with different summer vegetables and styles of pasta and you’ll never get bored of your summer body diet plan.
It’s absolutely delicious, super low calorie, and packs a good balance of macros for anyone looking to build a summer body diet plan.
Summer Foods
Summer vegetables in a bowl prior to grilling.
Summer is amazing for food choices, especially when it comes to fresh vegetables. Most vegetables are going to be planted early spring and harvested in summer, meaning you always have fresh choices.
In the case of this pasta salad we’re going with aubergine, corn, cucumber, tomatoes and onion, but feel free to add whatever summer veggies you want. It’s hard to go wrong, summer vegetables tend to go nicely together.
I’d recommend the addition of squash and zucchini, and next time I make this I’ll be adding beetroot and a few crushed nuts for sure.
Now before we get to the recipe, let’s just cover a couple more quick points…
It’s A Vegetarian Recipe
I probably shouldn’t even have to mention this at this point but in case it’s your first time here. Firstly, hi, welcome to Smartblend, thanks for stopping by. And secondly, all the food on this blog is vegetarian and/or fish.
It’s A Quick Healthy Recipe
Probably my favourite thing about this summer vegetable gnocchi salad recipe is that it’s quick. And when I say quick, I mean quick. 15 minutes including prep, and if you’re using a Ninja Foodi Max Grill, that time comes down to about 12 minutes from start to finish.
Perfect if you’re having it because you’re on a summer body health kick and don’t want to be spending to much time in the kitchen.
Grilled Summer Vegetable Gnocchi Salad
Ingredients
Instructions
- Pre-heat your grill to medium/high heat or, my recommendation is to use the Ninja Foodi Max (if you have one) if using the Ninja Foodi Max Health Grill for this recipe then set it to grill - medium - 7 minutes.
- Check out the Ninja Foodi max on amazon UK here, amazon USA here or pick it up from the official Ninja website here.
- Begin heating up a large pot of water to cook your gnocchi via packet instructions.
- Meanwhile whilst your grill is heating, rub the vegetables with 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Once your grill is heated, grill the vegetables turning occasionally until evenly charred. If you’re using the Ninja Foodi Max this should take around 7 minutes, for conventional grilling it’ll take around 10 minutes.
- Whisk the remaining 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a large bowl along with the basil, salt, pepper, chilli, and garlic.
- Once the vegetables have finished grilling, transfer to the bowl with the oil mixture, take out the corn and cut into bite size pieces before adding to the mix. at this point your gnocchi should be cooked, drain and add the gnocchi to the bowl and toss everything to combine. Serve with a crumbling of feta.
Notes
Substitution
Some people don't like the idea of roasted cucumber, if that's you, swap the cucumber for zucchini.
Elevate the recipe
To elevate this recipe, try making your own gnocchi.
Nutrition Facts
Calories
441.81Fat
18.47Sat. Fat
4.24Carbs
63.3Fiber
8.45Net carbs
54.88Sugar
9.23Protein
9.95Sodium
629.31Cholesterol
11.13The nutritional information shown is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice. See our full nutrition disclosure here.
Hi, I’m Cameron, guv’nor of Smartblend. If you liked this then you’re in luck, I have a bunch more recipes like it. I share only vegetarian and pescatarian food recipes, cocktails, and drink guides with a sprinkling of wellness and mindful drinking. If that sounds like you, then stick around!
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