Italian Three Bean Pasta Salad

This is a ridiculously easy and delicious salad that can be eaten as a side dish, starter or even as a main course. It should be served cold and is therefore perfect for picnics. The combination of lovely fresh ingredients and bright colours is a feast for the eye as well as the stomach. This salad is suitable for vegetarians.

You can use any beans that you want to make this salad. Whichever beans are easy to come by. Beans are part of the legumes family, and are a great source of fibre. They also help to reduce cholestorol and blood sugar levels, so all in all they are a pretty great food!!!

Ingredients

1 250g can Lima beans, drained

1 250g can Cannellini beans, drained

100g green beans

300g macaroni or other small pasta shapes

1 green bell pepper

1 red bell pepper

1/2 cucumber

2 tomatoes

1/2 200g can sweetcorn

1 red onion

1 teaspoon dried chili flakes

1 Tb extra virgin olive oil

1 Tb balsamic vinegar

1 Tb Italian salad dressing

1/2 lemon

1 Tb dried oregano

salt and pepper to taste

Method

Put a large pan of salted water on to boil. 

Thinly slice the red and green peppers and then dice into small pieces. Dice the 1/2 cucumber in a similar fashion. Chop the red onion into small pieces.

When the water is boiled, cook the pasta according to the instructions on the packet. Macaroni only takes a little while to cook, but make sure to stir it every now and again, to prevent the pasta from sticking together. When the pasta is al dente, drain and rinse thoroughly with cold water.

Drain the lima beans and cannellini beans in a colander, and then transfer to a large bowl. Drain the sweetcorn and add half of this to the bowl.

Boil a second pan of water for the green beans. Cut the end off of these and then cut each bean into 1.5 cm pieces. When the water is boiled add the beans and cook these gently for about 2 minutes. The beans should still have a bite to them and should be too soft. Drain and rinse thoroughly in cold water.

Add the diced green and red peppers, diced cucumber, green beans and macaroni to the bowl containing the beans and sweetcorn. Mix this thoroughly.

Combine the olive oil, balsamic vinegar, Italian salad dressing and juice from half a lemon together in a bowl with oregano, salt and pepper. Pour this mixture into the large bowl and mix through once more so that all the ingredients are coated with the dressing. Sprinkle the chili flakes over the salad.

Just before serving, dice the tomatoes into small pieces, and serve these on top of the salad on the individual plates. If the salad is to be for more than one day, it is best not to add the tomato to the main bowl or this will become mushy and affect the rest of the ingredients.

Serve in large pasta bowls or dinner plates for a main course, or smaller bowls or plates for a starter or side dish.

Buon appetito! Enjoy!