To hot, to Cook. Try an Italian chill meal!

A few years ago, when a major heat wave swept through Europe, many people were running around to find ways to stay cool. As for me, I was In England at the time, visiting a few family members. Even though I love the heat, the weather in England was getting to me. So as it turned out, my extended family would avoid using the oven and always cook chill meals for dinner and lunch. So below is a recipe that I find is one of the best for those hot days!!

Italian bean pasta Salad

As for cooking it, the only hot point of preparing the meal is boiling the pasta. Yet that never takes very long. But do make sure you chill the pasta, before adding it to your next step. Next step would be adding tomatoes, green peppers, onions, red / white kidney beans, chickpeas, feta cheese and basil into one large bowl. For the dressing, grab some lemon juice, olive oil, garlic, basil, and oregano in another bowl. Mix well and pour the dressing over the vegetables and beans. Let the dressing sit in the salad for 15 minutes before serving, so it will sink into all the vegetables.

Ingredients:

Salad:

12 oz of shell pasta
¾ cups of diced tomatoes
¾ cup of diced red onion
2/3 cup of each canned red kidney beans, white kidney beans, chickpeas, and drained/rinsed.
½ cup of feta cheese
1/3 cup of fresh chopped basil or parsley

Dressing:

¼ cup of freshly squeezed lemon juice
3Tbsp olive oil
1 Tbsp of balsamic vinegar
2 Tbsp of dried basil
2 Tbsp of crushed fresh garlic
1 ½ Tbsp of dried oregano