Red Bean & Pasta Salad

My sons enjoy a pasta dish once a week and generally for a Saturday lunch, and I personally do not like pasta and prefer not to eat it. So one fine day I decided to play around with pasta and see which combinations work for me and which ones I will be able to eat (because I have been told by my son that being vegetarian does not mean I have to only eat Indian food and if I want to go to Europe on holiday-I need to get my act together and start eating pastas and pizzas), so here is my first creation and I have to admit it was not bad at all-however next time I will use a smaller shape of pasta. My experiments will continue and so will my diet modifications.

Red Bean & Pasta Bean Salad (Serves 6)

1 can red kidney beans

125ml chopped tomatoes

65ml chopped mix peppers (optional)

45ml chopped fresh basil

30ml chopped spring onions (optional)

1 green/red chilli finely chopped

7ml salt

5ml freshly ground pepper

2ml sugar

15ml lemon juice

5ml lemon grated lemon zest

10ml olive oil

500ml cooked pasta shapes

100ml feta to serve (optional)

6-8 sprigs of basil leaves (garnish)

 Method

1. Mix the beans, tomatoes, peppers, chopped basil, spring onions, chilli, salt, pepper, sugar, lemon juice, lemon zest and olive oil and allow this to rest for about 15-20minutes, so that all the flavours can combine well
2. Place cooked pasta in a serving bowl and pour the beans mixture over the pasta and garnish with some feta cheese and basil leaves before serving