Tuna Pasta Salad

I eat a LOT of "salads", from macaroni salads to bean salads to chicken salads. I've always liked tuna salad OK enough, but have often wished for SOMETHING extra in it. However, I DO love tuna noodle casserole, since the addition of the pasta and peas really seems to dress up the ordinary canned tuna. 

So, when I stumbled across this recipe in my Google Reader, I knew it would be a PERFECT lunch salad for me. Balanced with protein, good fats, and carbohydrates (use wheat pasta for an even healthier option), with the cool taste and texture of pasta salad, this was insanely quick and easy to make. Better yet, I didn't even have to go to the store for any of the ingredients - even if I DID, I would have gotten out for only a few dollars!

I *DID* make a few changes to the original recipe; I omitted the raw onion and added celery. I also increased the tuna to 2 cans to make this more of a meal. 

Tuna Pasta Salad

adapted from Budget Bytes

PRINTABLE RECIPE

Ingredients:

12oz bowtie/farfalle pasta, cooked according to package directions

2 cups frozen peas, thawed

2 cans chunk tuna in water, drained

Juice of 1 lemon (about 2 Tbsp)

1/2 tsp salt

Pinch white pepper

1 stalk celery, diced

3/4 cup mayonnaise

Drain the cooked pasta and rinse with cold water to stop the cooking process.

Meanwhile, combine the peas, tuna, lemon juice, salt, pepper, celery and mayonnaise.

Drain the cooled pasta well and fold into the tuna mixture. Chill until ready to serve.