Bruschetta Pasta Salad with Olives and Kale

This gluten free and vegetarian-friendly Bruschetta Pasta Salad with Olives and Kale is the prefect and easy to make make-ahead salad for lunch or crowd-pleasing dish for your next potluck event!

All of my favourite things! All in gluten-free salad form! (heart-eyes times a million, friends!)

This Bruschetta Pasta Salad recipe is my favourite kind of pasta salad – the easy and simple kind of pasta salad that walks on the healthier side of things. And that’s gluten-free and vegan-possible if you leave off all that feta cheese (I would never!!).

It’s the pasta salad that you just #cantstopwontstop eating and that hits on that special little part of your heart and your stomach because pasta. And because kale. All at the same time.

I know. There are A LOT of things going on with this pasta salad. And I think that is why I like it. With the end of summer fast approaching (I mean, HELLO?, it’s September 1 right now!) I can’t help but feel I need to make up for some lost time.

And not that I lost any time, per say, but I feel that fall and those pumpkins creeping in and I just don’t think I’m ready. I think I had a pretty good summer but I still feel like I have cram as many summery things (like local vegetables, summer drinks and sunscreen!) into everything I do to try and make it last just a little bit longer.

And by that I mean kind of like putting kale in my tomato and basil pasta and serving it cold because it might still be too hot outside to eat anything remotely warm.  You know what I mean?

MORE ABOUT THIS GLUTEN-FREE BRUSCHETTA PASTA SALAD RECIPE…

We’re talking pasta salad meets kale salad with olives and feta. And if that’s not the best upcoming long weekend celebration in a bowl I don’t know what is. Or maybe just a real good lunch. You choose. 

There are the curliest, swirliest brown rice noodles in almost all the colours of the rainbow… K, maybe only 2 or 3 very faded and cooked-out colours of the rainbow but still. They’re cooked until al dente or maybe just a bit more then cooled and then tossed with the most delicious, in my humble opinion, of course, bruschetta mix going.

Super ripe cherry tomatoes, balsamic vinegar, extra virgin olive oil, fresh garlic and basil. The most classic of bruschetta mixtures then gets turn all around with sliced Kalamata olives and finely chopped curly kale (my kale of choice these days). And it’s all topped with crumbled feta cheese.

Yeah. Pasta salad meets kale salad meets the best of fantastic Mediterranean flavours.

And it’s easy to make too. We are cooking pasta and chopping tomatoes and the end result is something so very delicious. #ifonlyeverythingwasthiseasy

(I’m so not good with hashtags… the struggle is real.)

Gluten-free brown rice rotini noodles are my noodle of choice here but any noodle will do here, friends. And leave the cheese off for a very vegan salad that everyone will love this long weekend and every day after too.

I like this salad the best fresh and right away. But if you choose to enjoy it a day or two later and find it too dry and another tablespoon of oil and a splash of vinegar to bring it back to its freshly made, most delicious state. 

Bruschetta Pasta Salad with Olives and Kale

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• Total Time: 30 minutes
• Yield: 4-6 1x

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Ingredients

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• 3 cups uncooked, short-cut GF pasta
• 1 cup ripe cherry or grape tomatoes, chopped or diced
• 1 cup curly kale, washed and finely chopped (from 1 small leaf of kale)
• 1/4 cup kalamata olives, pitted and sliced
• 1/4 cup fresh basil, washed and roughly chopped
• 1 small clove of garlic, minced or finely grated
• Salt and Pepper
• 4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 2–3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
• 1/4–1/2 crumbled feta cheese (depending on how cheesy you want to be)

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Instructions

1. Cook pasta according to package instructions. Drain and rinse well under cold water until the pasta is cool and no longer starchy to the touch.

While the pasta is cooking:

1. In a large mixing bowl, add the chopped tomatoes, finely chopped kale, sliced olives, basil and garlic. Season with a generous pinch of salt and pepper.
2. Drizzle the vegetable mixture with the oil and vinegar. Toss to combine.

Putting it all together:

1. Add the cooled pasta to the vegetable mixture. Toss to combine, or until the pasta noodles are evenly mixed in with the veggies and coated in the dressing.
2. Season with additional salt and pepper if needed.
3. Top with crumbled feta cheese.
4. Let the salad sit for 10-15 minutes before serving to allow the flavours to really mingle. Best if eaten within 1-2 days.

• Prep Time: 15 minutes
• Cook Time: 15 minutes