Recipe: Pastasalad with diced ham

Since we went barbecuing I decided to make a pastasalad as a healthy sidedish. As you could have probably guessed, I have got an addiction for pastasalads during the summer. They are just so easy to make and you can costumize it however you like it! I invented this salad myself by just trying out some ingredients that I thought would fit well together. The nice thing about this dish is that you can add any ingredient you like or use other ingredients which match your preferences.

What you will need (for two bowls):

• 500 grams of pasta
• 300 grams of diced ham
• 4 tbsp of black olives
• 15 cherrytomatoes
• 250 grams of green beans
• 450 grams of mozzarella
• 2 tbsp of fresh cream
• 4 tsp of italian spices
• olive oil
• peper

Preparation:

1. Shuck the ends of the green beans and wash them. Put them into a pan with boiling water and cook for 10 minutes. Then swill with cold water, so that the beans remain green.
2. Boil the pasta following the instructions on the wrapper. When done, cast the pasta into a colander and swill with cold water. Let it leak out afterwards.
3. Cut the cherrytomatoes into pieces, as well as the black olives and mozzarella. Put the pasta, diced ham, olives, tomatoes, fresh cream, mozzarella and green beans in a bowl and toss it around. Season the salad with italian spices, peper and olive oil. Ready to serve!

Just a little note: I used olive oil that I got as a holiday present from a dear friend of mine. It is formed as the tower of pisa and contains olive oil with rosemary and pepers. It is absolutely delicious and really adds something special to the dish!

What kind of pastasalads do you make during the summertime? I would love to hear from you!

Have a lovely day. -x-

Running, hardlopen, laufen!

A new blogpost today. About running, hardlopen, laufen. What a wonderful thing that is. I went running yesterday while just having downloaded a new running app, called strava. It basically measures about pretty much everything, so you might want to check it out yourself (you can also use it for mountainbiking etc.).

I figured I would tell you something about my summer cardioprogramme. I wake up early on a workout day because I prefer working out at the start of the day. Before leaving the house, I eat two slices of gingerbread and drink a glass of water or juice. I run with a bottlebelt so that I always have access to water. I tend to delineate the route in my head before I go.

I like running with music, it gives me a great energy boost. Songs I really love listening to while running? Beautiful day, Ordinary Love and One by U2 (and basically all the other songs by U2), All of Me Remix by Tiësto and Waiting for Love by Avicii.

After running it is significant to keep hydrating yourself. When I come home I drink one or two glasses of water straight away. I also like to eat a citrus fruit. After my shower I still take a small breakfast. That is often a slice of bread with topping or a bowl with fruits and oatmeal. After, I am ready to take on the day!

What do you eat/drink before, during and after your workout? I would love to hear from you!
Have a beautiful day. -x-