Summer Pasta Salad!

Whew.  Hot in the East Bay today and yesterday and the day before.  With Sonnet in school and Emelia easily succumbing to a long overdue nap, I could not bring myself to do anything but hole up up in the dark and cold inviting cave of my bedroom.  I wish I could say I  took a nap; instead,  I chose to read that darn "Grey" book everyone is clamoring for.  Not good reading really, when you're trying to keep cool.  So wait, off on a tangent, is Christian Grey a vampire??  I thought the book was a spin from The "Twilight" series.....

     Anyway, I digress.  The reason for this blog entry was to share an easy recipe when those summer days are unbearably hot.

    I really didn't want to cook today, but since we've been on vacation, the girls have not really been eating healthy and I have not been cooking any healthy meals.  However, I really didn't want to make a complicated or unhealthy meal.  So off we went to Safeway after I woke Emelia up from her nap, ( baaad mother I am--although she was happy to wake up and see me[how can your heart not melt when your baby wakes up, turns and looks at you and says ever so sweetly "momma"]) and after we picked up Sonnet from school, to gather much needed vegetables and other necessary staples.

     Oh, I digress again!  See how this hot weather affects me? This is why I made this dish:

    

Seriously, this summer pasta salad dish is super easy to make.  I love this dish.  I think it took me 15-20 minutes to prepare and serve.  Best of all, it is super healthy.  Wait, no....Best of all, the girls ate it.  Granted, Emelia was a little picky, but Sonnet ate all of it.  And Dennis and I went for second helpings each.

      Want the recipe?  Okay, fine, twist my arm!  

Ingredients:

        1 box of colored rotini pasta ( or twisted elbows--just make sure the pasta is colorful)

        1 cup of broccoli florets

        1/4 cup of diced green bell pepper

        1/4 cup of diced red bell pepper

        1/2 cup sliced red onion

        1 can of red kidney beans

        1 small can of 2.25 oz sliced black 

         olives drained

        1 can (6oz) of tuna or skinless and 

         boneless salmon

        1 8 oz jar of julienne cut sun-dried 

          tomatoes with Italian herb

        1/4 tsp of black pepper or to taste

        1/4 tsp garlic powder ( better yet, 

        1-2 cloves of fresh minced garlic)

or to taste.  

         Dried basil, oregano and kosher salt to taste.

Directions:

1.   Cook pasta according to directions

2.   Meanwhile, cut and prep broccoli, green pepper, red pepper, red onion and garlic (if you're using fresh garlic)

3.   Add broccoli to pasta the last 4 minutes of pasta's cooking time.

4.   In a colander, drain can of tuna and red kidney beans.

5.   Once pasta and broccoli are done, drain in the same colander, which holds the tuna and kidney beans.  Rinse with cold water.

6.   Place in a large bowl and mix all ingredients together.  Add black pepper, kosher salt, and dried herbs to taste.  Voila--dinner is served!  There's your vegetables, protein, carbs--all in one dish!  You don't even need to add any other dish--perfect for me!  I really think the sundried tomatoes are the stars in this dish.

      This dish is supposed to be served cold (thus making it an ideal cool summer dish), but I had to serve it right away as it was dinnertime.  It was still good and very flavorful, but I can't wait to have it for lunch.

     

      Happy Eating and I would love to hear from you if you try it!