Why is everyone suddenly putting lettuce in their pasta salads?

We have officially entered the haze of summer, and with that comes an abundance of pasta salad. And a lot of people are really messing it up.

The options for pasta salad are seemingly endless. The creamy comfort of a homemade macaroni salad or the fresh tanginess of an Italian pasta salad. There are a million dressings and fixings and types of pasta to choose from. But lately I have been seeing a disturbing trend for one thing that absolutely does not belong in a pasta salad: actual salad.

At its very core a pasta salad excludes any lettuce or salad-like green (your arugulas, spinaches, romaines, icebergs, etc.) because it's a pasta salad. The pasta is in substitution of the leafy salad green, and if it weren't, it would just be salad. When we make other variations of salads — like potato salad or fruit salad — it very obviously leaves out any lettuce because the potatoes and the fruit in those instances are the salad.

Obviously there's a very important role that vegetables do play in the creation of a pasta salad, but this means pretty much any vegetable other than a leafy green, which goes against the dish's very essence. Instead, you should be pairing your pasta and dressing with a crunchy cucumber, a sweet tomato, sliced biting red onions, and colorful diced peppers. I think the closest we should come to leafy in a pasta salad is an herb, and even basil is pushing it, in my opinion.

But while scrolling on TikTok or Instagram I've been almost relentlessly slapped in the face with pasta salad recipes that are essentially your traditional leaf-based salad with cold noodles in it, often with the label of it being "healthier."

One recipe on TikTok from user @heidibove_ includes two cups of arugula with spinach tortellini, two cups of basil, a cup of peas, artichokes, salami and lemon. In the video she says "this one is so green & salady," and in the comments, someone says, "I really like that this dish is more pasta SALAD rather than PASTA salad." To me this is the tell-tale sign of a dish having an identity crisis.

Two recipes from @babytamago similarly lean heavier on the salad part of a pasta salad. One recipe she posted last spring is labeled a "green pasta salad," a healthy option because it includes arugula among other green vegetables like asparagus. The second one, posted this spring, titled a "hot honey strawberry Caprese" pasta salad, sounds quite delightful. It includes cut-up strawberries coated in hot honey, mozzarella pearls, cherry tomatoes, basil and prosciutto. But then she adds two handfuls of un-chopped arugula, which she lists as optional in her recipe, and completely negates the pasta in pasta salad.

Another recipe I found on TikTok is from @Shredhappens, and is promoted as a "low-carb, high protein pasta salad." It's made with romaine lettuce and BLT fixings and a noodle of your choice. And don't get me started on the "healthy" chicken Caesar pasta salad that was trending last summer.

You get the picture. None of this is to say these dishes and recipes aren't delicious. My issue is with the label. At the end of the day I think people should eat what they like, and I think having fun and being creative in the kitchen is one of the best parts of cooking.

But these recipes aren't pasta salad.

I truly believe if you're making a pasta salad there is no place for salad greens. And here are my reasons:

First, the textures are all wrong. Cold pasta and mushy lettuce just don't go together, in my opinion, and we have no business trying to force them into a relationship. The pasta is the star of the show and it needs to stand out, not be overshadowed by an unwanted (and frankly uninvited) lettuce.

Second, it doesn't look right. Color in any dish is important, but when done correctly in a pasta salad you should have no issue because the other vegetables you use will be a sufficient palette. A bulky lettuce among the pasta and its other veggie pals throws off the visual balance of the meal and honestly stirs up confusion on what the dish actually is.

Third, it breaks with tradition. The Wikipedia page for pasta salad doesn’t mention adding a leafy green or lettuce to the dish once. Instead, it defines it as an appetizer prepared with a base of pasta and dressing, with additional ingredients like cheese, herbs, meats, vegetables and beans. And when you explore the great’s pasta salad recipes you don’t find any leafy greens. One of Martha Stewart’s most popular pasta salad recipes is made of spaghetti, a vinaigrette, bell peppers, cucumbers, cherry tomatoes, olives, capers, parsley and feta. And the closest thing to a leafy green in Ina Garten’s sun-dried tomato pasta salad is basil.

And fourth, I think it says a lot about where we're at in diet culture. Pasta salad is meant to be an indulgence, and from what I can tell, our society has lately gained a quick obsession with making everything healthy. Why eat regular pancakes when you can have some packed with protein? You can find a "healthy" alternative to almost any ingredient these days, and people are devouring it.

When I think of pasta salad, I think of backyard BBQs with friends or a dish you bring to a family potluck, or even a lazy meal that uses up the contents of your fridge that are about to go bad. Pasta salad is meant to be a little disheveled, yet chic, celebratory and refreshing. The moment you want to make pasta salad "healthy" is the moment you rewrite its identity entirely.

There's no need for us to complicate this dish, which to me, is meant to be a simple, beautiful, time-honored seasonal dish. Just enjoy the pasta salad.

And with that, I leave you with the classic and simple Italian pasta salad recipe that I learned from my mom:

• 1 box of tri-color rotini, cooked, drained and cooled (or your pasta of choice — I like the color and flavor the tri-color adds, though!)

• Diced bell peppers (I usually do one of each color)

• Cherry or grape tomatoes sliced in halves or fourths

• One cucumber peeled and diced

• Half a block of cheese cubed (sharp cheddar is my favorite)

• One small can of halved or diced black olives

• One bottle of Italian dressing (can make your own, but off-brand + store-bought is perfectly fine. I usually add about half the bottle and use the rest whenever it needs a refresh, like for leftovers)

• Optional: sliced up salami or deli meat of your choice

• Mix all ingredients together and taste-test for dressing amount. Can use salt and pepper to taste. Chilled before serving is best, but can eat right away, too.