Perfect Lunch Pasta Salad

Six weeks ago, my baby left the world before he or she could enter it.  The love I felt for my baby overwhelmed me then, and it overwhelms me now.  Because of this overwhelming, deep-rooted love, I cannot wrap my brain around how powerful the love for a born child must be. 

This past weekend, I drove to my childhood home and spent the weekend with my parents.  Hubby was at a work conference in D.C., and my loyal Honda and I ventured on down the road against a backdrop of an orange sunset and a few rain drops.     

Spending a weekend with two people I am more than proud to know in a town I am more than proud to come from was healing, celebratory, and special.  Thank you to my wonderful parents for being who you are.  You devotedly taught your children how to take the reins and sculpt our own lives. 

Here is a recipe for a crazy delicious pasta salad I made recently. My love for pasta salads definitely comes from Mama Suz.  Pasta, vegetables, a little cheese, and a tangy dressing? I'm in.

You can change and modify the recipe as much as you like, and I promise you, it will still be completely nourishing and wonderful.  I ate this pasta salad for lunch every day last week, too, and I was never bored with it.  I added some chicken to it one day and tossed in extra arugula another day.  You could add some tuna for extra protein, which would be so good. 

Pretty much all of the ingredients are measured by the "handful".  This is my absolute favorite kind of recipe.

"Perfect Lunch" Pasta Salad
Recipe:  inspired by Mama Suz's fantastic pasta salads over the years

Ingredients:
Small pasta of your choice (shells, farfalle, penne, etc.)
1 pepper, roughly chopped (red, orange, yellow, or green)
1 can of cannelini beans, rinsed
handful of feta cheese
a couple of handfuls of fresh arugula
small handful of parsley, chopped
juice of 1 lemon
a few drizzles of olive oil
S & P to your taste

The Process:
Cook your pasta noodles 1 minute shy of cooking time to avoid the too-mushy-pasta-factor.  Set noodles aside. 

In a large bowl, combine all of your ingredients with the pasta noodles.  I portioned out lunches from there in separate containers so that they would be ready to go for the week.  Refrigerate until ready to eat!

This Perfect Lunch Pasta Salad keeps in the fridge for 5-7 days, and it gets more delicious by the day.  The beans bring a smooth creaminess to the salad, and the arugula adds a fresh, peppery bite of flavor.  The parsley and lemon brighten everything up, and the feta adds salty, tangy pizazz.  Enjoy!