Leftovers Made Awesome: Part 1

Happy Tuesday friends!

So, I really hate to waste food. But, probably like many of you, I also really hate to eat the same exact meal a number of days in a row. Enter my new series: Leftovers Made Awesome!

Today’s segment features the leftover whole wheat pasta from Saturday night’s carbo loading dinner before the race.

Tuna and Veggie Pasta Salad

Ingredients:

• 1 cup (overflowing) leftover cooked whole wheat pasta
• 1 single serving packet of water-packed chunk light tuna
• 1/2 cup frozen peas
• 1 massive handful fresh spinach
• Plain, fat free yogurt
• Dijon Mustard
• (optional) Balsamic Vinaigrette dressing

Instructions:

Start with your plain, boring, leftover whole wheat pasta. Get ready for tastiness. I’m not sure if tastiness is a word.

Add 1 overflowing cup of the pasta to a large bowl.

Next, in a separate, smaller bowl, prepare the tuna mixture. I used a single serving packet of chunk light tuna packed in water. Dump the tuna in the bowl, and then mix in a spoonful of plain, fat free yogurt (I used Chobani’s 0% Greek yogurt), and a couple squirts classic Dijon mustard to it – I’d say use about 2 parts yogurt to 1 part mustard. Mix it all together. You want the tuna to be very coated in both since this will also be the pasta’s “sauce”.

Once complete, add the mixture (which may or may not look like cat food… disregard) on top of the pasta. Sorry… no picture, per the cat food comment. 😉

Next, prepare the peas. I’m super lazy and did this in the microwave. Take the frozen peas (which I can finally open and eat since I no longer need to save the package to ice my knees with!), and pour about 1/2 cup into a microwave safe bowl. Pour in enough water so that the peas are covered, and microwave on high for about a minute.

 

Strain the peas and add them to the pasta/tuna mixture.

 

Next, prepare the spinach. Take a massive handful of fresh baby spinach and put it on a plate. Again… I am lazy so it’s microwave time. Wet your hands with water and shake a few droplets on top of the spinach. Microwave on high for about 45 seconds and viola! Steamed spinach!

 

Add the spinach to the pasta/tuna/pea mixture…

…and mix it all up so that the tuna and its sauce coat everything. Yes, it may look kind of gross, but trust me, it doesn’t taste gross.

Now… for the optional final ingredient. For a little extra kick, add a drizzle (about a teaspoon, not much) of balsamic vinaigrette on top of the mixture, mix it all up again, and enjoy!

I enjoyed my tuna & veggie pasta salad for lunch today with a nice side of grapes, and a not-so-nice side of Organic Chemistry.

  

Off to school I go! Tuesdays are a busy day class-wise – Organic Chem lecture from 3-4:30, and Organic Chem Lab from 5-8! Ick. At least I made it to my favorite Pilates class this a.m. 🙂

Enjoy the rest of your day, and stay tuned for tomorrow’s Leftovers Made Awesome: Part 2! Yes, I STILL have pasta left over… and I have a perfect idea for how to use it 🙂

What’s your favorite way to re-vamp leftovers?