Cooking for Dogs – Pasta Salad

There are a few things that are absolute must haves at any Casa de Kolchak BBQ.
Hamburgers. Hot Dogs. Watermelon and Pasta Salad. Everything else is always changing, but those few things always stay the same. My family is hugely into pasta salad and we are always trying to invent new and tasty ways to serve it up. We’ve tried Greek pasta salad, Tex-Mex Pasta, Tahini Pasta Salad…you name it, we’ve tried it all.



Pretty much everyone in my family has a dog (or at least all the cool family members do.) We decided it was high time that we created a pasta salad that we could share with our dogs.
Pasta salad isn’t usually dog-friendly for a lot of reasons, but the two big offenders are the onions, the mayonnaise, and the ham/bacon. Not exactly stuff that we should be sharing with our furry friends. I’ll admit that I was worried that without the tartness of the onion and the richness of the mayo, that our pasta salad was going to fall flat, but it was a huge hit.




Not your Grandma’s recipe, this pasta salad features a ton of bright crisp veggies, vibrant herbs and just a hint of tasty dressing.

You need:
2 cups pasta, cooked al dente, drained and rinsed in cold water
1/2 cup each, chopped – carrot, celery, red bell pepper, spinach & zucchini
2 cloves garlic, sliced (optional – see note)
1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
1 cup chopped fresh basil
½ cup chopped fresh parsley
Optional: Your favourite BBQ meat – like chicken breast or steak

So we know that not everyone is 100% comfortable feeding their dogs foods with garlic. I absolutely see both sides of the issues. After a lot of personal research, I have decided that for my dogs, I am comfortable giving them small amounts of garlic for seasoning or therapeutic use, but I encourage you to read the studies and decide what is best for your dog. If you choose not to feed garlic, feel free to skip on to step #2.



Step #1: In a sauce pan, heat oil and garlic. Cook, stirring constantly over medium heat until garlic is fragrant and sizzling (It only takes a minute or two.) Remove from heat and let stand 10 minutes. Discard garlic slices, so only the garlic-y oil remains.
Step #2: In a large bowl, toss together pasta, vegetables and herbs with the olive oil and white wine vinegar.
Step #3: Top with your choice of tasty BBQ meat and serve!



This pasta salad was a runaway hit!
Some of my family members added chopped olives or mozzarella cheese pieces to theirs too, which looked extra tasty!

Tell me, what food is a staple at your BBQs?

Jodi is a canine nutrition and small animal naturopathy student hailing from beautiful Vancouver, BC. (That’s in Canada, eh?) She loves to experiment in the kitchen, creating tasty (and healthy) treats for her two dogs, Felix & Kolchak and the rest of her family. Jodi’s blog, Kol’s Notes follows the antics of the irrepressible Kolchak as he celebrates good food, good friends and the good life.