Salade Nicoise Inspired Pasta Salad

Today I was walking through the produce section of the grocery store and I noticed the very fresh looking green beans they had... and right above those were the red potatoes, so... long story short, I came up with this little pasta salad that's inspired by salade nicoise.

Cast of Characters:

• 6-8 oz whole grain penne pasta
• 8 oz fresh green beans
• 4-6 red or new potatoes (I prefer the flavor of red potatoes)
• Two 5 oz cans of tuna
• 4 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
• 1-2 Tbsp. lemon juice
• 1 Tbsp. Dijon mustard
• 1/8 tsp. black pepper
• 1/8 tsp. salt

Directions:

1. Cook pasta. Add in trimmed green beans for the last 4-6 minutes of cooking (the longer the green beans cook, the softer they will be).
2. Boil or steam the potatoes until they are soft. Cut potatoes in half and then cut each half into 4 pieces.
3. Mix pasta, green beans, potatoes, and tuna together in a large bowl.
4. Mix together olive oil, lemon juice, Dijon mustard, pepper and salt.
5. Pour dressing over pasta and mix well.
6. Allow to chill in refrigerator before serving.

I served mine with a sliced hard boiled egg since those are typically included in a salade nicoise.

Nutritional Info:

Servings: 4

Calories: 390

Fat: 15 g

Carbs: 39g

Protein: 25 g