Tuna and Red Pepper Pasta Salad

Refreshing, light suppers to calm down the heat in your life. Tuna and Pasta is a classic combination, throw in some diced red bell pepper for color, crunch and flavor to ramp up this classic dish. And, if you want to skip the mayonnaise there is a suggestion on how to do that.

• 1 box cellantani pasta
• 1 cup finely chopped red bell pepper
• 1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley (or 2 tbsp. dried)
• 1/2 cup finely chopped red onion
• 1/2 cup finely chopped celery
• 2 (6-ounce) cans solid white tuna in water, drained
• 1 cup mayonnaise
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 tsp. granulated garlic or 1 minced clove garlic
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

To make this lighter for summer you could replace the mayonnaise with:

• 1 box pasta
• 1/3 cup fresh lemon juice (or the kind in the bottle would do)
• 2 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
• 1-2 tbsp. capers

1. Cook the pasta according to the box directions.
2. If you are making the "lighter" version, whisk the olive oil, lemon juice, salt and pepper and the minced garlic in a separate bowl. Then add it to the pasta and tuna, red peppers, celery, onion and parsley and give it a good toss.
3. Otherwise, add the drained tuna to the pasta along with the onion, celery, red peppers and the seasonings and fresh parsley.
4. Add the mayonnaise and stir well to incorporate. Cool down in the refrigerator before serving. If the pasta salad seems to dry add a touch more mayonnaise.

You are all set to serve up a great tuna pasta salad for your family. My cost for this was: $5.96. Serves 10 - 12 portions at .59¢ for 10 and .49¢ for 12.

Cook's Note: You can ramp this up to a whole box of pasta and 2 cans of tuna which is what I did. My husband said, "Best tuna pasta salad I've ever had."