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This surprisingly delicious pasta salad is a little different than the average pasta salad.  It can be fully vegetarian or vegan with a few simple changes. This is my recipe for pineapple and chickpea pasta salad.  

 

Pasta Salad, Toddler Almost Approved

I love pasta salad.  It’s one of my favorite things to make.  Pineapple and chickpea are pretty good together.  Sometimes I can get my toddler to eat it.  Other times I have to make a deconstructed version to get him to try it.  This one seems to be okay.  Well except for the beans.

Cooked Pasta

Before you start anything you’ll need to cook up some pasta.  I used whole wheat penne pasta and cooked it according to the directions on the box.  It’s important to have cool pasta before mixing in any of the other ingredients. So once it’s cooked set it aside.  

 

Chop Veggies

This recipe only has a few veggies.  But you will need to do a little chopping.  Take one cucumber and slice then chop into bite-size pieces.  I quartered mine.

 

Pineapple Choices

I used canned pineapple so far.  The fresh ones aren’t very good yet and are still pretty expensive so the canned stuff for now.  I tried both crushed and sliced. I liked the sliced a little better. Save the juice for your dressing later.  

 

Nuts

I love cashews.  None of us have nut allergies so we will use just about any tree nut.  You can add your favorite. I would steer clear of anything with a strong flavor.  You could try peanuts, cashews, or walnuts. If you have nut allergies try pumpkin seeds, edamame, or sunflower seeds so you get a little crunch.  

 

Beans

Chickpeas are so good!  I feel like I put them in everything.  This would just be another one. 🙂

 

Dressing

I combined one ¼ a cup of Italian dressing with the juice from the pineapple and a little bit of black pepper.  Then mixed it into everything.

 

Options

I’ve tried this with a few other things.  If you’d like to add any or all of them you can try it out.  To add more color and veggies I added carrots and scallions. The flavors work well with everything else.  I also added some canned tuna to one batch. It makes the tuna taste less fishy.

 

Pineapple and Chickpea Toddler Almost Approved Pasta Salad

I think pineapple and chickpea are great together.  My toddler has tried and eaten what he likes out of the salad.  It’s a little hard to get him to eat beans so he usually ignores chickpeas.  I think the next time I make it there will definitely be carrots and scallions.  I think it could use more color and I like the flavor combination. I may also experiment with olive oil and garlic powder instead of Italian dressing.  

[kindred-recipe id=”671″ title=”Pineapple and Chickpea Pasta Salad”]

You can also find my more traditional pasta salad recipe here.

Or our family dinner Pinterest board here.

Did you try this recipe?  Think you have a better one?  Reply below.  And don’t forget to like, share, and subscribe.