Pasta Salad with White Beans and Feta
Cook pasta at the trailhead or in camp, dress it, and eat it cold at the top.
- calories
- 620
- weight
- 6 oz
- cal / oz
- 103
- protein
- 22 g
- serves
- 4, scales
- prep
- 10 min
- cook
- 10 min
- total time
- 20 min
- water
- 1200 ml boiled
- cost
- $$
Calorie and protein figures are my own estimates, good enough for planning a food bag and not meant as precise nutrition data.
- Lunch
- Canister stove
- Liquid fuel
- Car camping
- Basecamp
- Day hike
- Canoe / raft
- Vegetarian
- Nut free
- One pot
- Pre-mix at home
- Needs a cooler
- Basic
Ingredients
| Dried pasta | 300 g | chickpea fusilli adds protein; spirals hold dressing |
|---|---|---|
| Canned white beans | 1 cup | drained and rinsed; a retort pouch saves the can weight |
| Feta | 3/4 cup, crumbled | brined feta keeps a few days out of a fridge better than most cheese, but cooler it if you have one |
| Baby arugula | 2 cups | pack in a rigid container or it turns to paste |
| Olive oil | 3 tbsp | |
| Red wine vinegar | 1 tbsp | |
| Balsamic vinegar | 1/2 tsp | |
| Honey | 1/2 tsp | |
| Dried garlic | 1/8 tsp | |
| Dried Italian herbs | 1/8 tsp | |
| Salt | 1/8 tsp, plus more to taste |
Method
- Boil about 1200 ml of water and cook the pasta to just short of soft. Chickpea pasta goes to mush fast, so pull it early.
- Drain it. Pour the hot water into a bottle for dishes or coffee instead of dumping it.
- Rinse the pasta with cold water to stop the cooking and cool it down. Drain hard.
- In the empty pot, whisk the vinegars, honey, salt, dried garlic, and herbs, then stream in the oil and whisk until it holds together.
- Add the pasta, beans, and feta to the pot and stir. Fold the arugula in last so it does not wilt into nothing.
- Taste, add salt, and eat. It keeps overnight in a cooler and is better the next day.
This started as a kitchen lunch and needed almost nothing to move outdoors: one pot, one boil, no oven, no fresh dairy beyond the feta. Feta is the right cheese here because it comes packed in brine and does not sweat oil the way cheddar does in a hot pack. The beans do the real work, turning a side dish into a lunch that holds you through an afternoon.
Cool the pasta before it meets the dressing. Hot pasta soaks up all the oil and the salad goes dry, and it wilts the arugula on contact. The rinse also washes off surface starch, which matters more with chickpea pasta than wheat. Cook it a minute under package time or you will be eating paste.
Packing
Mix the dressing dry goods with the vinegars and honey in a small leakproof jar at home and carry the oil in the same jar. Pasta rides in a bag, beans in a pouch, feta and greens in the cooler.
Variations
- Skip the feta and honey and it is vegan; add a handful of olives for the salt.
- Regular wheat fusilli or whole grain works if chickpea pasta is not around, at the cost of protein.
- No greens on day three? Sun-dried tomatoes or dried bell pepper flakes rehydrate in the dressing.
https://daraeats.com/lunchtime-pasta-salad