This delicious and filling pasta salad checks all the boxes for a quick yet healthy meal. All you need is 20 minutes and a handful of ingredients.
Eating Healthy On a Budget
This is the second recipe of the series “Eating Healthy On a Budget”, where I am highlighting that cost under 2€ per person. This series is especially designed for students and busy people who do not want to spend too much money or time on making meals, but still want to eat healthy. I have tried, tested, calculated and have come up with four recipes that I will be sharing on Fridays. All the recipes from the series use only ingredients from discount grocery stores (I got mine from Aldi) except chicken for one of the recipes (because I use halal).
About Today’s Recipe
We all have days when we do not want to spend much time in the kitchen, but still want to eat something homemade and healthy. For those days, this salad is the perfect answer. It has got a good balance of protein (from the kidney beans), carbohydrate (from the wholegrain pasta), fibre and lots of nutrients from the greens and apple. My kids like this pasta as much as the adults do. I used pre-washed, pre-cut mixed green pack from Aldi (pictured below) because it saves time and effort. You can of course use any greens of your choice.
Can This Salad Be Made Ahead of Time?
You can make this salad for up to a day ahead of time. Put it in an airtight container and store into the fridge. If you are making this salad in bulk or for meal prepping, store the dressing separately and mix just before consumption. This will prevent the salad from getting soggy and will keep it fresh for longer.
Ingredients with Cost Breakdown
Watch the video instructions to easily follow the recipe
Pasta Apple Salad
Ingredients
For the salad
- 100 grams wholegrain pasta (penne, farfalle or fussili)
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 medium (150 grams) apple
- 1 small (100 grams) onion
- ½ lime
- 1 can (400 grams) kidney beans
- ½ packet (200 garms) mixed salad greens (washed and cut) (or greens of choice)
For the dressing:
- 2 Tbsp (30 ml) olive oil
- ½ lime
- ¼ tsp salt
- ¼ tsp freshly crushed black pepper
- 2 Tbsp full fat yogurt or greek yogurt
Instructions
- Fill a pot with about 2 liters of water and bring it to boil. Add the pasta and salt, and let it cook according to packet instructions (mine took 8 minutes). Drain when cooked.
- While the pasta cooks, drain the kidney beans and wash thoroughly. Put it into a sieve to let out all the water. Dice the apple. I like to cut the onion into rings because it looks beautiful in the salad. You can cut it any way you prefer.
- Take a big pasta bowl and add the greens (washed, cut and dried if not using packed). Add all the rest of the ingredients.
- For the dressing, add all the ingredients into a small glass jar. Put a tight lid on and shake well to incorporate everything together.
- Pour the dressing onto the pasta and mix thoroughly. Enjoy!
Notes
- You can make this salad for up to a day ahead of time. Put it in an airtight container and store into the fridge. If you are making this salad in bulk or for meal prepping, store the dressing separately and mix just before consumption. This will prevent the salad from getting soggy and will keep it fresh for longer.
- You can use any greens that you prefer, or add cucumber instead.
- Skip the yogurt or use vegan yogurt to make the salad vegan.