I don't know about you but we have had a crazy busy summer and it is flying by faster than expected. That certainly isn't a bad thing but I feel like we haven't even checked half off our summer list of activities yet. My daughter has been living her best life though with hosting sleepovers, pool time, dance and attending a couple different VBS programs this year. We definitely stay busy.
Mixed in with all of that we have hosted a couple of gatherings with friends. At home movie nights and cook outs are definitely my speed since I can gather a few friends, catch up with them and enjoy some good food all at the same time. Nothing says summer gathering like a tasty chilled party friendly salad.
I always loved getting spaghetti salad when we would go to summer parties but the calorie and carb content have had me backing away from that the last few years. However, I found a few swaps that made this a party pleaser and easy on my waist line at the same time.
The first swap is using Barilla Protein+ pasta instead of your standard pasta. It still tastes like real pasta and doesn't have any weird flavors. If you have tried the lentil pasta or chickpea pasta you have probably noticed that they only play will with certain flavors or sauces. However, this pasta still tastes like you expect pasta to taste.
The second is to use the Lite Zesty Italian instead of regular Zesty Italian dressing. 2 tablespoons is normally 60 calories with your standard Italian dressing. Some brands it can even be 80 calories. When you use the Lite version that drops to 25 calories. One thing with the protein pasta is that it tends to drink up the sauce or dressing used more than it's normal counterpart so you will end up using the entire bottle which is why the lower calorie version is definitely preferred.
The third swap is to use turkey pepperoni in place of regular pepperoni. When I would get this salad from a deli or other places it usually has mini pepperoni pieces and sometimes cheese mixed in the salad. I wanted to keep that flavor without adding more calories or fat to the salad. Using 2 servings of the pepperoni and chopping it up to spread out through the salad gives that flavor without adding unnecessary calories.
Lastly, this isn't a swap and I recommend you not swapping it for anything else. I don't know exactly what is in McCormick Salad Supreme seasoning but when mixed with the dressing it makes a fabulous pasta salad. In fact, I only put 3 tablespoons in the recipe but I'm all for adding a bit more before serving. I usually sprinkle a healthy amount right over the top before putting it out for guests.
Now that you know the swaps making this a healthier choice let's get to making some salad!!!!
Ingredients:
•1 box Barilla Protein Plus Angel Hair Pasta
•2 oz turkey pepperoni, chopped
•2 cups Lite Zesty Italian dressing, divided
•3 tbsp. McCormick Salad Supreme, feel free to add more to your liking
•1 small zucchini, shredded or chopped
•½ cup cucumber or 1 mini cucumber, chopped
•½ container grape tomatoes
•¾ cup shredded carrots
•1 stem celery, thinly sliced
•3 mini sweet peppers, diced
•3 scallions, chopped
•Salt & Pepper to taste
Make the salad:
•Mix all ingredients except 1 cup of salad dressing together.
•Let sit in fridge overnight.
•Add remaining dressing and mix well.
•Taste and add any additional salad supreme, salt or pepper as needed.
•Serve.
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****nutrition calculated by entering ingredients on www.myfitnesspal.com