Search This Blog

Search This Blog

Layered Salad with Pasta and Homemade Vegan Mayonnaise

Vegan mayonnaise poured onto a Layered Salad with Pasta  Great for those on a dairy free diet - www.tinnedtomatoes.com


Salads are so versatile. They're a meal by themselves and a great way of getting your five-a-day.

This layered salad is simple but tasty and looks great when you serve it up. The mayonnaise is beyond delicious. Much tastier than regular mayo. Seriously! You must try it.

So why do I love salads so much? 

They come in so many forms and with a bit of imagination you could eat a different salad each day of the year.

Then there’s the dressing. 


Which Dressing?

Homemade vegan mayonnaise. It’s a simple dressing to make. You start with unsweetened soya milk, wholegrain mustard, some lemon juice and black pepper in a blender. Whizz these up, while slowly drizzling in some olive oil. Once you have tried this, you will be loath to buy mayonnaise again.


You can dress your salad with a simple vinaigrette, a creamy dressing, pesto, hummus, mayonnaise, an Asian style dressing or simply some freshly squeezed lemon or lime juice.

To pimp your salad and give it a bit of crunch, why not top it with some nuts, seeds or croutons? 

I decided to make this colourful layered salad. It can be layered in individual dessert glasses, jam jars or a large glass bowl. I served it in my trifle bowl.

I started with a layer of bow pasta coated in a dairy free pesto. My next layer was salad leaves, then garlic sauteed chestnut mushrooms, then a layer of grated carrot, cucumber and a layer of tomatoes. I finished it of with another layer of salad leaves and more grated carrot.


The most heavenly Homemade Vegan Mayonnaise that's made in minutes. Great for those on a dairy free diet - www.tinnedtomatoes.com

How to make Vegan Mayonnaise


I finished my salad with homemade vegan mayonnaise. You could use regular mayonnaise, but this vegan mayonnaise is much nicer and not quite so calorific.

It’s a simple dressing to make. You start with unsweetened soya milk, wholegrain mustard, some lemon juice and black pepper in a blender. Whizz these up, while slowly drizzling in some olive oil. Once you have tried this, you will be loath to buy mayonnaise again.

print recipe
Layered Salad with Pasta and the most glorious Homemade Vegan Mayonnaise that's made in minutes. Great for those on a dairy free diet - www.tinnedtomatoes.com
Layered Salad with Pasta and Homemade Vegan Mayonnaise
A colourful layered salad with sauteed mushrooms, pasta and the most glorious (and easy) homemade vegan mayonnaise.
Ingredients
  • 150 - 200g farfalle (bow) pasta
  • 50-75 ml  olive oil
  • 50g basil leaves
  • 1 clove garlic
  • 50g salted cashews
  • 2 tsp  olive oil
  • a good grinding black pepper
  • 3 large mushrooms, sliced
  • carrots, coarsely grated
  • 125g salad leaves
  • 2 large ripe beef tomatoes, sliced
  • cucumber, sliced
  • 50ml unsweetened soya milk
  • 2 tsp wholegrain mustard
  • 1tbsp lemon juice
  • 150ml  olive oil
Instructions
1. Cook the pasta according to the packet instructions until al dente. When it is cooked, rinse under cold water until the pasta is cold. This is important when adding pasta to a salad, as it stops the pasta cooking and keeps it from going claggy.2. While the pasta is cooking, whizz up your all your pesto ingredients(ingredients 2,3,4 & 5) in a blender or food processor until almost smooth. A little bite is nice in a pesto. You can also grind a pesto in a pestle and mortar.3. Sauté the mushrooms in the olive oil with the garlic until tender. Season well with black pepper and set aside.4. Time to layer the salad. Mix the pesto through the pasta and add to your bowl, then a layer of salad leaves. Place your mushrooms on the salad leaves, then top with grated carrot. Next is a layer of cucumber, then a layer of tomato, followed by salad leaves and finally a layer of grated carrot.5. To make the mayonnaise dressing, add the soya milk, mustard, lemon juice and black pepper to a blender or food processor and whizz. While it’s blending, gradually drizzle in the olive oil which will emulsify the dressing into a thick, unctuous mayonnaise.6. Pour your mayonnaise on top of your salad and tuck in.7. Enjoy!Notes: You may need 2 bowls for this salad, unless you have a large bowl
Details
Total time:
Yield: Serves 6


Before you go check out some of my favourite salads.


9 glorious veggie and vegan salads to perk up meal times

  1. Rocket and Mozzarella Farfalle Salad
  2. Butternut Squash, Puy Lentil and Rocket Salad
  3. Conchiglioni Pasta Salad with Sautéed Mushrooms and Goats' Cheese
  4. Creamy Vegan Potato Salad
  5. The Best Summer Pasta Salad
  6. Puy Lentil, Beet and Mozzarella Salad
  7. Avocado, Apple & Hazelnut Salad
  8. Artichoke, Red Pepper and Goats Cheese Salad
  9. Bulgur Couscous and Puy Lentil Salad

    Tune in next week for Meat Free Mondays
    and a week full of sandwich ideas.

    16 comments

    1. I do love a good salad Jac, love the idea for the vegan mayo, I must make a batch.

      ReplyDelete
    2. I think I could eat Vegan just for this mayonnaise alone (I'm absolutely serious). Luckily I don't have to, but...

      ReplyDelete
      Replies
      1. I was amazed at how good it is. Normal mayo sometimes make me feel queasy, but this is out and out gorgeous.

        Delete
    3. I could eat salads everyday of my life - esp if they are drizzled with a pesto dressing. The vegan mayo sounds rather lush.

      ReplyDelete
      Replies
      1. Oh yes pesto dressing is rather marvellous Bintu and I'm with you on the year round salads.

        Delete
    4. The vegan mayo sounds very interesting. I would like to try it.

      ReplyDelete
    5. That mayonnaise seems so easy - need to crack out the Froothie!

      ReplyDelete
    6. Love summer pasta salads and this dressing looks amazing and seems very easy to make too!

      ReplyDelete
    7. Ooh, vegan mayo sounds great! Lovely salad, too.

      ReplyDelete
    8. What a cheerful and unbelievably tasty sounding salad you've put together there Jac!!!! That vegan spin on mayo is definitely one to try... love making my own dressings as they always have so much more flavour than shop bought nonsense. I find regular mayo fat too fatty for my tastes, so yours sounds perfect.

      ReplyDelete
    9. The mustard and oils are key -- I rely on a citrus-tinged olive oil and a great mustard just to hold things together, and then load up the dressing with herbs with herbs. One thing we tried for a nice vegan dressing is to make a cucumber base. Once we had a fridge malfunction and the cukes froze, so we skinned them and whizzed them up with a bit of oil, mustard, vinegar, a grinding of pepper and salt and a splash of Oatley. It was really fresh and good.

      ReplyDelete

    I love reading comments, so thank you for taking the time to leave one. Unfortunately, I'm bombarded with spam, so I've turned on comment moderation. I'll publish your comments as soon as I can and respond to them. Don't panic, they will disappear when you hit publish. Jac x