Healthy Summer Herb Pasta Salad with Celery Leaf Pesto - grain & dairy free!

As I mentioned in my previous post, I went to my local farmer's market over the weekend and found some lovely, fresh, local and organic produce including some beautiful herbs. As a Japanese person, I couldn't resist buying fresh shiso (perilla) which came in both purple and green! It's got such a lovely flavour that's perfect to add to salads. Since I've reintroduced pseudo grains this week, I celebrated with this healthy, detoxing, free-from pasta salad with buckwheat penne and my celery-leaf & brazil nut pesto. This herby salad is free from grains, dairy, gluten and oil - vegan and candida friendly!

Other herbs and leafy greens I picked up from the market were flat-leaf parsley and coriander/cilantro, lettuce and spinach. I simply chopped them up and tossed them with the pasta and sauce in a bowl. My go-to grain-free pasta is the buckwheat penne from Sainsbury's. It's not organic but it's made from 100% buckwheat and it's only £2.25 for 500g! I love how healthier options are becoming more accessible and mainstream. Let's vote with our wallets!

This recipe will work with any combination of fresh herbs. If you can't find shiso, you can alternatively use fresh mint and/or dill. Whatever you end up using, make sure they're organic as leafy vegetables tend to have the most pesticides!

Since I'm still drinking Medical Medium's Heavy Metal Detox Smoothie in the morning, I've opted to consume my daily dulse seaweed intake through other dishes. I find it tastes better in salads than in the smoothie. I ordered from Atlantic Kitchen in bulk on Amazon.

On another note, I don't really miss cheese, but I do miss topping my dishes with it! For this dish I sprinkled some desiccated coconut to make it look like grated cheese. Looks nice, right?

Healthy Summer Herb Pasta Salad

Dairy free, gluten free, grain free, sugar free, oil free, vegan

1 serving
Total cook time: 15 min

Ingredients:

• 100g grain-free buckwheat penne
• handful of fresh organic herbs (shiso, flat-leaf parsley, coriander)
• handful of organic leafy greens (spinach, lettuce)
• 2 tbsp Dairy-Free Celery Leaf Pesto with Brazil Nuts
• 1 tsp organic desiccated coconut

Instructions:

1. Boil pasta according to instructions. Don't cook it too 'al-dente' since you'll be using it as a salad.
2. While the pasta is cooking, wash and chop the herbs and leafy greens.
3. When the pasta is done, cool under cold running water and drain.
4. Toss the pasta in a large bowl (or the pot you boiled the pasta in) with the herbs, leafy greens, and pesto sauce. 
5. Serve in a bowl and top with desiccated coconut.