#1 Mush­rooms

The ad­di­tion of roast­ed or sautéed mush­rooms pro­vides deep earth­i­ness and meati­ness to your sal­ad with­out the need for meat—mak­ing it a per­fect op­tion for veg­e­tar­i­ans. We sug­gest roast­ing your mush­rooms with fresh thyme and gar­lic for even more flavour.

#2 Corn

Many times sug­ar is an in­gre­di­ent in pas­ta or pota­to sal­ad. We com­plete­ly get why. It bal­ances all flavours and adds a par­tic­u­lar ad­dic­tive qual­i­ty to what can some­times be a bor­ing side dish. Corn is a bril­liant op­tion for any­one want­i­ng to swap sug­ar with a health­i­er op­tion. It doesn’t on­ly add sweet­ness but al­so brings tex­ture to the some­times ‘mushy’ sal­ad.

#3 Olives

The dress­ing for pas­ta or pota­to sal­ad is more of­ten than not, may­on­naise-based. While this is yum­my, it can get over­ly creamy, es­pe­cial­ly with pas­ta’s tex­ture. The brini­ness of olives helps cut through the heav­i­ness and creami­ness of the sal­ad while al­so giv­ing pops of salt and colour.

#4 Fe­ta Cheese

Cheese can be an odd in­gre­di­ent in pas­ta sal­ad but like olives, it brings salt and brine to the rather mun­dane pas­ta sal­ad ta­ble. Fe­ta cheese al­so gives you the op­por­tu­ni­ty to for­go the may­on­naise-based dress­ing and in­stead, use some­thing lighter and com­ple­men­tary to the fe­ta such as, olive oil and bal­sam­ic vine­gar.

#5 Toma­toes

Toma­toes add a sur­pris­ing­ly juicy and fleshy el­e­ment to pas­ta sal­ads. Be­sides be­ing a beau­ti­ful red, its flesh qual­i­ty changes up the tex­ture of the sal­ad—an im­por­tant fac­tor in cre­at­ing an out­stand­ing pas­ta sal­ad. Tex­ture makes dish­es ex­cit­ing and mor­eish.

#6 Fresh Herbs

In­tro­duc­ing fresh herbs like chives, pars­ley and lo­cal cel­ery to your pas­ta sal­ad can add fresh­ness, colour and tex­ture. It breaks up the mun­dane­ness of a heav­i­ly dressed sal­ad and adds lemo­ny and flo­ral qual­i­ties. We firm­ly be­lieve that this is your key to a gourmet sal­ad.