RECIPES - Italian Pasta Salad

From the WSJ:

RECIPES

Italian Pasta Salad

10 minutes preparation + 10 minutes cooking

8 serves of vegies in this recipe

Serves 4

INGREDIENTS

2½ cups pasta shapes (spiral or bows); 1 punnet cherry tomatoes sliced in half; 12 black olives, pitted and sliced; 1 green capsicum, seeded and diced; 6 button mushrooms, sliced; ½ cup snow peas, strings removed and sliced; 2 tablespoons chopped parsley; 1 tablespoon lemon juice; 185g can of tuna in spring water, drained; ½ cup low-fat Italian salad dressing; freshly ground or cracked black pepper, to taste.

METHOD

Cook pasta according to packet directions. Toss tomatoes, olives, capsicum, mushrooms, snow peas, parsley, lemon juice and tuna together. Mix through pasta. Pour the dressing over salad and add pepper to taste. Hint: Look for low-fat or fat-free dressings in the dressing section at the supermarket.

Red Beef Curry

20 minutes preparation + 15 minutes cooking

15 serves of vegies in this recipe

Serves 4

INGREDIENTS

2 cups rice; 2 teaspoons vegetable oil; 400g lean blade steak, sliced into strips; 2 medium onions, sliced; 3 teaspoons red curry paste; ½ cup chicken stock; 500g pumpkin, finely diced; 2 red capsicums, seeded and finely sliced; rind of 1 lemon, grated; 250 ml reduced-fat coconut milk; 1 bunch English spinach leaves, washed and roughly chopped.

METHOD

Cook rice following packet directions. Heat half the oil in a large pan, pan-fry beef for 5 minutes until brown, set aside. Heat remaining oil and pan-fry onion until tender. Stir through the curry paste, stock, beef, pumpkin, capsicum and lemon. Simmer for 10 minutes until pumpkin is soft, adding a little water if necessary. Pour in coconut milk, stir through spinach and cook until wilted. Do not boil. Serve over rice.

Hint: To reduce fat content, substitute one can of low-fat evaporated milk and one teaspoon of coconut essence for coconut milk.