Hear me out. Pasta salads are such an underrated healthy meal to make yourself. I feel like people only have them during summer BBQs when in reality, they can be a great single serving lunch or dinner.
You can pack the pasta salads with healthy omega 3 fats and vegetables, and you'll get protein/carbs from the pasta of choice. Did I mention the whole process takes 15 minutes? I present to you my "Single Serving Vegetarian Pasta Salad".
To my people who don't enjoy cooking as much as others, THIS is for you. All the cooking you need to do is boiling pasta. The rest of the work is chopping up some spinach, fire roasted peppers, mozzarella, cucumber, kalamata olives, and mini bell peppers. So quick, so easy, so nutritious, and so delicious! You're going to love its' simplicity. Let's get to the recipe shall we? Yields: 1 Prep time: 15 minutes Total time: 20 minutes
This recipe is gluten free and vegetarian.
Ingredients: 1. 1 cup of Eat Banza pasta (shelled) - you can also opt for regular shelled pasta 2. 1-2 TBSPs of sun-dried tomatoes 3. 1/4 cup of finely diced cucumber (I prefer English, but Persian is fine) 4. 8 kalamata olives chopped in halves 5. 2 mozzarella rounds chopped into cubes
6. 1 handful of spinach chopped into strips
7. 2 mini bell peppers chopped finely
8. 1-2 fire roasted peppers chopped finely
9. 2 TBSPs extra virgin olive oil
10. 3/4 TBSP balsamic glaze (I do apologize, cooking has come so habitual for me that I don't measure perfectly. But these are very approximate measurements because I'm trying to get better at it for you guys!)
11. 3/4 TSP salt
12. Juice of ½ lemon
13. ½ TSP dried oregano
Instructions: 1. First, boil a pot of water and make sure to salt it. 2. Now, grab a serving bowl for yourself. 3. Add in your pasta into the boiling water.
4. While your pasta is cooking, add ingredients 2-8 into a bowl.
5. Once the pasta is al dente, strain and rinse the pasta with cold water. Add the pasta into the serving bowl. 6. For the vinaigrette: in a small bowl add ingredients 9-13. Whisk well and pour onto the salad.
7. Mix the vinaigrette in well and taste test for salt/balsamic glaze. Add if necessary.
8. Enjoy!
Xoxo,
#averagearabgirl 💋