Carb Loading Pasta Salad

Happy Monday!  I was planning on posting this pasta salad recipe last week, but apparently we skipped Meatless Monday.  Oops.  So, tada:  here's some pasta salad.

As much as I talk about it, I don't really "carb-load" before a race.  I just try to focus on eating really well the week before and making sure I'm eating a normal amount of good carbs at each meal.  This salad made with lots of veggies, beans, and whole wheat pasta sounded like just the thing for race week.  I made a big batch and had it for lunch several days in a row.

Green Bean and Pasta Salad

Ingredients:

• 4 ounces whole wheat pasta (1 1/4 cups)
• 4 ounces green beans, halved crosswise (about 1 cup)
• 1 cup canned red or kidney beans, rinsed
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
• 2 tablespoons grated Parmesan (2 ounces)
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• kosher salt and black pepper

Method:

• Cook the pasta according to the package directions, adding the green beans during the last 3 minutes of cooking. Drain and run under cold water to cool.
• Toss the cooled pasta and green beans with the red beans, parsley, Parmesan, olive oil, lemon juice, ½ teaspoon kosher salt, and ¼ teaspoon black pepper.

This was so good!  I added extra of everything and then tossed in some chopped broccoli too.  Drew said it was dry, but I'm not a big dressing person.  You could add more lemon juice and olive oil if you found it to be dry.  Enjoy!

Happy {meatless} Monday!