Bethany's Vegan Kitchen

Four bean salad with fusilli, tomato and spring onion, with pea & almond pesto. This would be great for lunches or picnics, and is quick and easy to make. If you don’t want to use beans, you can swap them for the same amount of mock meat or seitan

Yield; Four to six servings Cook time; 15 minutes

For the pesto you’ll need;

1. 100g frozen peas
2. Two tablespoons of water
3. One clove of garlic, peeled and minced
4. 30ml oil
5. One tablespoon of lemon juice
6. Half a teaspoon of dried basil
7. 20g of flaked almonds
8. One tablespoon of nutritional yeast
9. Salt and black pepper to taste

Method;

• Cook the peas as per the instructions on the packet. Once they’re cooked, add them along with the rest of the ingredients listed into a jug
  
• Then blend with a stick blender. I still wanted some texture in mine, so I blended until it was combined but not fully smooth. Once it’s blended, set it aside
  

For the pasta salad you’ll need;

1. 200g (this is the dry, uncooked weight) fusilli
2. 100g fine beans, ends removed and chopped
3. Two tomatoes, deseeded and chopped
4. Four spring onions, thinly sliced
5. One 400g tin of mixed beans in water, drained and thoroughly rinsed. You could alternatively swap this for 250g of chopped mock meat or seitan

Method;

• Start by cooking the pasta as per the instructions on the packet. Four minutes before the pasta is done, add the fine beans into the same saucepan so they can cook. Once the pasta and beans are done, drain away the water, fill the saucepan up with cold water and drain again. This helps to stop the cooking process, once they’re drained you can set them aside
• Prepare the rest of the ingredients and add them into a large mixing bowl, along with the pasta and beans
  
• Now fold in the pesto from earlier, and ensure everything is mixed well
  
• Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes before serving

The pesto also makes for a lovely pasta sauce. All you have to do is cook and drain your pasta, add the pesto and then either a splash of pasta water, or a splash of plant milk. Then stir well to make sure the pasta is coated evenly before serving. I added more (possible too many) peas to my pasta a couple of minutes before it was cooked