This was my tea tonight, the tuna pasta salad from Meal Plan 9. On the meal plan, this salad is used as a lunch, but it could just as easily be a dinner, and in fact, it was

What you need to make tuna pasta salad

half a tin of tuna, Aldi, 49p, 25p
80g onion, Aldi 59p kg, 5p
200g carrots, Aldi 49p/kg, 10p
100g pasta, value 29p/500g, 6p
30ml veg oil, Aldi 89p/litre, 3p
60g black olives Aldi, 230g/45p, 11p

Total cost 60p, per serving 30p
per serving 456cals, 23g protein, 20g fat, 46g carbs

How to make tuna pasta salad

Cook the pasta in salted water until tender. Drain well and toss in the oil, this helps to keep the pasta separate and not set into 1 big clump.

Peel and slice the onion as thinly as you can. Grate the carrot, peel first if you like. Now toss everything together and season with salt and pepper. You might not need much salt with the tuna being salty from the brine and with the olives.

What changes can I make

• use either the black or the green olives, they are the same price.
• add seasonal leaves from the garden if you have any, or a nice ripe tomato.
• swap and change the veg: finely sliced fennel would be lovely,
• or beetroot from the vacuum  packs,
• a few peas,
• some baby broad beans,
• a few french beans.
• swap the pasta for boiled potatoes and add an egg and you more or less have a niciose.
• add an anchovy fillet or some vinaigrette dressing.
• add a few green, brown or puy lentils, or rinse off some value baked beans and use those. 
• replace the pasta with couscous, or rice.
• a half dozen crunchy croutons scattered across the top would be lovely, sliced, or otherwise,
• or maybe a tsp of pumpkin seeds.

Have a look and see what you have.

I had mine with fancy pants pasta from Approved Foods, green olives, as I had some open, some leaves from the garden and a bit of tomato. It was lovely.