When summer hits, I love any type of cold veggie side dish that just gets better the longer it sits in the fridge. My Moroccan Carrot Salad is one of my favorites, my Broccoli Salad just gets better throughout the week, and my Winter Citrus Salad is so delicious even in the summertime. Nobody wants to cook a ton in the summer, especially in the kitchen, and these side dishes pack a ton of flavor without a ton of work. Now for this recipe, I ventured outside of the paleo guidelines because that’s how I eat these days. I used a brown rice pasta, but you can use whatever pasta you prefer! There are paleo pastas on the market, cauliflower gnocchi, lentil pastas, and I’ve even seen spaghetti squash pasta. You do you, you figure out what works for you and your own body, and you go live your best life! That’s what I plan to do over here in the PaleOMG household!
Speaking of the PaleOMG household, I’ve been beaning it up over here. If you haven’t heard me talk about the bean protocol yet, I shared an update on my podcast this week! This week will be the last week in month 1 and I’m incredibly optimistic. I started the bean protocol to work on my acne that I’ve been dealing with for almost 20 years. After dealing with an incredible amount of stress back in February and March, my skin went crazy. Cystic acne, little tiny bumps everywhere, and new breakouts every single day. Luckily I have a friend who listens to a ton of podcasts and she told me about the bean protocol and how beans/insoluble fiber helps remove excess hormones from your body. So I picked it up almost right away, cutting out all caffeine and sugar, and started eating beans every days, throughout my entire day. In just 3 weeks, all my tiny bumps throughout my skin are completely gone. Now my body is just still working away at the other acne I have going on. But I’m extremely excited with the results I have in only 3 weeks.
It’s just been so cool to try something completely outside of my understanding of health. Everyone always recommends a ton of supplements and I’ve tried almost all of them and nothing ever helped. And I’m sure you know, supplements are EXPENSIVE AF!! This incredibly cheap diet change has helped in just 3 short weeks. I know I still have a bit to go and I’m in it for the long run, but I’m just so glad I opened my mind to something I would never believe would work. We are living in a world where it is so important to open our minds to different ideas, viewpoints, and experiences; and I’m so glad I’m getting better and better at that. This is a simple PSA reminder to keep your mind open and try things that don’t make much sense to you. It might change your life for the better! And BTW, once I get through a couple months of the bean protocol, I plan to share a blog post all about the experience!
Greek Pasta Salad
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 10 minutes
- Total Time: 30 minutes
- Yield: 8-10 1x
Ingredients
- 12 ounces gluten free or paleo pasta (I used Jovial Fusilli Brown Rice Pasta)
- 12 ounces cherry tomatoes, halved
- 3 Persian cucumber, halved and thinly sliced
- 1/2 cup sundried tomatoes in oil, drained and thinly sliced
- 1/4 red onion, thinly sliced
- 1/2 cup pitted black olives, roughly chopped
- 1/2 cup pitted kalamata olives, roughly chopped
- 8 ounces mozzarella pearls, halved (optional – leave out for dairy-free)
- 1/2 cup parsley, roughly chopped
- 1/4 cup basil leaves, roughly chopped
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- juice of 2 lemons
- 2 teaspoons dried oregano
- 1 teaspoon coarse salt
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
Instructions
- Cook pasta according to packaging. Drain, rinse pasta, then keep pasta in pot in cold water (this will keep the pasta from sticking together).
- While the pasta cooks, sliced and dice up all the ingredients for the pasta salad.
- Drain pasta from the cold water, add it to a large bowl, then add all the rest of the ingredients to the bowl. Toss until completely combined. Serve immediately or keep covered in the fridge for up to 1 week.
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So cool hearing about your experience on the bean protocol, Juli! I was JUST listening to Lacy Phillips interview Karen Hurd and Unique on Expanded podcast episodes. Though I’m a Chinese Med doctor with a paleo-primal health certification, I LOVE exploring other protocols and possibilities too. Excited to see how the protocol does as the months pass – the results Karen and Unique have had with people are amazing!
Does it have to be beans? Do oats work or is it something special about the type of soluble fiber in beans. I am just curious.
yes. i sometimes actually pair beans and oats together, but it does need to be beans.
Hey, Juli! Love you and your recipes. Also, you’re fuckin hilarious, so that’s a big plus. Anyway, since I see you are open to new things…have you heard of the medical medium and celery juice? I know, I know, don’t say it. I’ve implemented some of his recommendations and have seen big changes in my health. He’s really big on veganism, which isn’t for me, but in a nutshell his philosophy is all about liver health/function and its correlation to viruses most of us have gotten that never really leave our system, like EpsteinBarr and Strep. Cutting back on fat in the morning, eating tons of fruit and veggies, including celery juice on an empty stomach first thing, and waiting until afternoon and/or dinner to get the healthy fats we need like avocados, and olive oil, etc., is basically it but there’s more if you’re really interested. You’re probably already doing much of what he recommends. Beans are ok and so is rice so that’s a plus! I’m soooo making this salad for dinner tonight. Thanks for the recipe. I appreciate you!
i’ve actually done a celery detox in the past and didn’t notice any change. tried it for 60 days with no change whatsoever! i have read some of his stuff and there is some great info in there, for sure!
Hi Juli! Have you noticed any changes in your sleep since giving up caffeine? I’ve been struggling w sleep lately and thought it might help but love my morning coffee so much!!!
no, but i didn’t have any sleep issues while consuming caffeine. but it’s worth a try!
Can you eat this recipe as part of the bean protocol? I thought you needed it with every meal. Is there any site you’re using as a guideline to the diet
you could make the pasta salad with a lentil pasta. and for this to work with the protocol, you would need to rinse the oil off the sundried tomatoes, then remove the olives, cheese, and olive oil. you don’t want to eat beans with any fat. check out unique hammond’s site and you can always purchase her protocol like i did! https://www.youregreat.com/beanprotocol
Also- do bean pastas count towards the protocol such as red lentil pasta?
yes
Hey Julie, does this keep well for a few days in the fridge?
yes!!
This is why vegans have such amazing skin! Excited to see the recipes you share and hear more about your experience.
for sure, but i also know a ton of meat eaters who have great skin!