Nectarine Lentil Pasta Salad

The summer heat is just miserable. It’s so hot and muggy that you often lose your appetite, and whoever does the cooking at home definitely doesn’t want to turn on the stove. So how do you eat healthy and feel good without cooking? The answer is salad 🥗! Salads are amazing because there are endless combinations. Starting with leafy greens as the base, you can add different roots, fruits and vegetables, grains, beans, nuts, spices, and dressings to create different textures and flavors! So a perfect salad should have lots of texture and flavor, and because it’s made with all kinds of whole foods, it’s nutritious and well balanced. So! Eating salad is definitely not eating grass. That’s not a real salad, that’s just lettuce! Like that sad bit of lettuce on the side of your plate at a steakhouse or Western restaurant, drowned in high-calorie Thousand Island dressing, or the same old Caesar salad.

Summer nectarine lentil pasta salad, with plump, juicy, sweet nectarines and a simple homemade lemon dressing. Light and delicious

To help everyone rediscover and fall in love with salad, I’ve decided to share all kinds of nutritious and totally not-boring salads with you!

What makes this salad special is that we’re using summer’s abundant stone fruit, and this time, in my eyes, the nectarine isn’t just a fruit to eat on its own but the star of the salad.

If you love salads as much as I do, I’ve shared these super tasty salad recipes before. You have to try them.

➣ Mexican-Style Grilled Corn & Chickpea Salad ➣ Kale & Tofu Salad with Miso Dressing

Highlights of This Summer Nectarine Lentil Pasta Salad

The Star: Sweet Summer Peaches or White Nectarines

White nectarines (sweet and fresh) I used white nectarines, but you can also use peaches. Both are delicious! Summer stone fruit isn’t just plump and sweet; it also has vitamins A and C, iron, potassium, and antioxidants, and it’s a low-GI fruit!

Plenty of Vegetables

Cherry tomatoes (sweet and tangy) Red onion (a little sharp) My favorite baby salad greens (tender)

Ingredients That Make It Filling

Whole wheat fusilli (chewy) Whole wheat pasta has a wonderfully nutty wheat flavor, and it adds fiber and makes the salad more filling.

Protein-Rich Ingredients

Lentils (protein) Lentils add plenty of protein, making this salad more nutritionally balanced.

Healthy Fats

Pecans (crunchy) Salads usually get olive oil for flavor, but in this one I mainly use pecans as the healthy fat, with just a light spray of olive oil. Adding a few nuts to a salad makes the texture so much better.

Salads are usually a starter, but for me this “summer nectarine lentil pasta salad” works better as a main or a side. My recipe is written to serve two as a main, but as a side it’s plenty for 4 people. This salad is also great for packed lunches or to bring along on a short outing.

Highlights of the summer nectarine lentil pasta salad

Ingredients for Summer Nectarine Lentil Pasta Salad

Nectarine Lentil Pasta Salad

• Whole wheat fusilli: I love the texture of whole wheat pasta, but it’s pricier and harder to find, so you can swap in regular fusilli or other “short” pasta like farfalle.
• Nectarines: white nectarines or peaches both work. Make sure your fruit is ripe, since ripe fruit is sweeter and slightly soft, but not overripe, or mushy fruit won’t toss well into the salad.
• Cherry tomatoes: any kind of small tomatoes work, or you can dice a large beefsteak tomato.
• Red onion: red onion is great in salads because its bite isn’t as harsh as the more common white onion. If you don’t believe me, pay attention next time you cut onions: white onions make you tear up easily, while red onions are much milder. And their beautiful purple color makes the dish more appetizing.
• Baby salad greens: for the green base of this salad I again used my favorite baby salad mix (available at Costco), because it’s tender, and it includes my favorite, arugula! Arugula’s distinctive aroma and slightly mustardy bite are so delicious in salads.
• Lentils: I used canned lentils. You can also cook dried lentils yourself, or swap in other beans like chickpeas or black beans.
• Pecans: pecans and stone fruit are a common pairing. If you can’t find pecans, swap in your favorite nuts.

Super Simple, Fresh Lemon Dressing

• Lemon juice: lemons or limes both work
• Dijon mustard: I used whole-grain Dijon, but smooth is fine too
• Agave syrup: I bought mine at Costco, or you can use maple syrup instead
• Water
• Salt: since it’s a salad, try to use sea salt or pink salt
• Black pepper: freshly ground tastes even better
• Olive oil: this recipe uses just a light spray of olive oil; sometimes I skip it entirely

Ingredients for the summer nectarine lentil pasta salad

How to Make Summer Nectarine Lentil Pasta Salad

Making this nectarine pasta salad is fairly simple: cook the pasta, mix the dressing, cut the other ingredients, then toss everything with the dressing and season.

Prep the Ingredients

1. First wash the baby greens and drain them. A salad spinner really comes in handy here. Once they’re washed and drained, set them aside to keep air drying.
2. Wash the cherry tomatoes, cut them in half, and set aside.
3. Wash the nectarines and slice them. To slice, hold the fruit in your hand and cut straight down to the center (the pit). Make a second cut about 0.5-0.8 cm (1/4 inch) from the first, angling it so it meets the first cut near the pit. That way a whole slice comes right out.
4. Cut the onion into strips, as thin as possible! If they’re too thick, the onion flavor will be too strong.
5. Open the can of lentils, drain, and set aside. If you’re cooking dried lentils yourself, use a ratio of 1 part lentils to 3 parts water. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, then reduce to low and simmer for about 15 minutes.

How to make the summer nectarine lentil pasta salad

Cook the Pasta

Bring a large pot of water (about 2 liters) to a boil over medium-high heat with a teaspoon of salt, then add the pasta and cook according to the package directions, usually about 7-10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Once cooked, drain the pasta, rinse it with cold water to cool it down, and set aside.

Make the Lemon Dressing

In a sealable jar, combine the lemon juice, water, Dijon mustard, agave syrup, and salt, then put on the lid and shake, or stir well with a spoon.

Assemble the Nectarine Lentil Pasta Salad

In a large salad bowl, add the whole wheat pasta and the lemon dressing, and toss well with long wooden salad spoons. This separates any pasta that’s stuck together.

Add the tomatoes, onion, white nectarines, and lentils. At this point the bowl is pretty full, so to toss, slide the long wooden spoons down along the edge of the bowl to the bottom, then gently lift. Repeat until everything is evenly mixed.

Finally, add the baby greens, spray with a little olive oil, and toss again using the same slide-down-and-lift method.

Last, add the pecans, season with salt and black pepper, and it’s done.

How to Store Summer Nectarine Lentil Pasta Salad

This homemade nectarine lentil pasta salad is nutritious, light, and delicious. Since it’s made with the freshest seasonal ingredients, I strongly recommend eating it as soon as it’s made! If you have time to meal prep, store each ingredient separately in airtight containers and assemble right before eating. If the salad is already made or you have leftovers, put it in an airtight container in the fridge and try to finish it within 3 days.

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I hope you all get a chance to make this light, sweet summer nectarine lentil salad!