Quick and Easy Pasta Salad Recipe

The end result I paired it with my homemade berry smoothie for a healthy lunch

This is a really quick and simple recipe that I use to make a healthy, tasty lunch the ingredients you will need to make this are:

• 1 serving portion of pasta
• 1/2 cup of tomatoes 
• 1/2 cup of mixed peppers
• 1/3 cup of fresh mozzarella cheese
• Fresh basil leaves
• Light Italian dressing
• 1 lemon

To begin with boil a pan of water on the hob and have your pasta serving ready in a bowl next to it while you're waiting for the water to boil run the tomatoes under cold water.

Cut up your peppers into small chunks then add them to a large mixing bowl.

Cut up the tomatoes in half then in half again and add them to your mixing bowl with the peppers.

I then added the pasta to the boiling water, turned down the heat and let the pasta cook for 10 minutes although check the guidelines for your specific pasta. I then cut the stalks off the fresh basil and chopped the basil into small pieces and added them into the mixing bowl. 

When the pasta was cooked I then drained the pasta and added it to the mixing bowl and poured Italian dressing around the edges and mixed it together making sure all of the pasta was covered in dressing and the salad was evenly distributed. 

I also added a squeezing of lemon juice and sliced chunks of fresh mozzarella then I put it in the fridge to cool for 10 minutes, then you're ready to have lunch! This is a simple basis recipe feel free to add a meat or fish dish to it and change the ingredients to suit you. 

Delicious Berry Smoothie Recipe Without a Blender!

The end product!

To make this berry smoothie the ingredients you will need are:

• 1 cup of raspberries
• 1 cup of blueberries
• Half an orange
• 1 banana
• 1 cup of yoghurt 
• 1 cup of milk
• 1 tablespoon of sugar

To begin with wash the raspberries and blueberries under some cold water then peel and cut up the banana into small slices, image below.

I added the raspberries and blueberries into a jug and began to mash them with a wooden spoon until the fruits broke down then I added the berries into a clear food bag along with the banana slices and orange segments. 

I doubled the food bag up so none of the smoothie mixture would get out then I used a plastic masher to grind the fruits down this takes roughly 5 minutes after that was done I poured the smoothie mixture into the jug i was using earlier and scooped out any pieces that were too thick to break down. I then added 1 cup of yoghurt and stirred it in with the mixture I chose an organic bio-live yoghurt with coconut. 

I then added 1 cup of milk and stirred it in with the mixture this made the smoothie much more smooth and added 1 tablespoon of sugar just to sweeten the smoothie but you can always leave the sugar out to make it more healthy. I then sieved the mixture into a glass to prevent any chunky pieces of fruit going in you may want to use a spoon to guide the smoothie mix through the sieve. Try this recipe for an alternative healthy snack, with this smoothie being delicious and good for you it ticks all the boxes! Of course you can add your own ingredients to mix it up or add different fruits that suit you best, a versatile and easy recipe to follow.