Pasta Salad with Roasted Bell Pepper, Cottage Cheese & Avocado
Fifteen minutes in a 410°F oven turns bell pepper strips from crisp and raw to sweet, charred, and slightly collapsed. While they roast, penne boils. After that, everything is assembly. Cold-rinsed pasta, chewy sun-dried tomatoes, half an avocado, and a handful of peppery arugula catch the warm pepper in one bowl. Cottage cheese goes on top. Pumpkin seeds finish it.
649 calories, 26g of protein, and 16g of fiber from seven ingredients and twenty minutes.
Fifteen minutes in a 410°F oven turns bell pepper strips from crisp and raw to sweet, charred, and slightly collapsed. While they roast, penne boils. After that, everything is assembly. Cold-rinsed pasta, chewy sun-dried tomatoes, half an avocado, and a handful of peppery arugula catch the warm pepper in one bowl. Cottage cheese goes on top. Pumpkin seeds finish it.
649 calories, 26g of protein, and 16g of fiber from seven ingredients and twenty minutes.
Ingredients
- bell pepper 1 piece
- penne, whole wheat 3 ounces
- sun-dried tomatoes 4 pieces
- avocado 0.5 piece
- arugula 1 handful
- cottage cheese, 4% milkfat 2 tablespoons
- pumpkin seeds 0.5 ounces
Method
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Preheat the oven to 410°F (210°C).
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Slice the bell pepper into strips and spread them on a baking sheet. Place the baking sheet in the oven and roast the bell pepper for 15 minutes. Then let it cool for a minute.
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Cook the penne according to the instructions on the package. Drain and rinse with cold water.
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Cut the sun-dried tomatoes into strips and dice the avocado flesh.
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Combine this with the penne, arugula, and roasted bell pepper in a bowl. Toss together.
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Serve the pasta salad on a plate. Top with the cottage cheese and finally sprinkle pumpkin seeds over it. Drizzle with some oil. Season with pepper and salt.
Toss the roasted bell pepper into the bowl while it’s still warm. The residual heat softens the arugula just enough to take the raw edge off its peppery bite without wilting it.
Why This Works
Behind this recipe
Does the cottage cheese affect the lycopene in the sun-dried tomatoes?
Calcium can interfere with lycopene absorption. A randomized crossover trial found that 500mg of calcium carbonate reduced plasma lycopene by 83%. But this recipe uses just 29g of cottage cheese, which delivers roughly 20mg of calcium. That is far below the dose that produced the effect in the study. At this amount, the cottage cheese is not meaningfully blocking lycopene absorption.
Read the full evidence reviewWhy sun-dried tomatoes instead of fresh?
Beyond the concentrated flavor, sun-dried tomatoes deliver roughly twice the accessible lycopene compared to fresh. A 2004 study measured lycopene bioaccessibility at 58% for sun-dried versus 29% for fresh. The drying process breaks down cell walls and weakens the bonds holding lycopene to the tissue, making it easier for your digestive system to release during digestion.
Is 26 grams of protein enough for a lunch meal?
The 20-30g per meal ceiling has been revised. That number was based on incomplete data, and more recent analysis shows the practical limit is substantially higher for muscle building. This salad’s 26g comes from four different sources — whole wheat penne, cottage cheese, pumpkin seeds, and avocado — spreading it across different amino acid profiles.
Read the full evidence review
