Greek Pasta Salad

Ingredients:
2 boxes Creamette Radiatore
1 bottle Kraft Greek Vinaigrette with Olive Oil
1/2 bottle Kraft Roasted Garlic Balsamic Vinaigrette
2 cups spinach
1 red bell pepper, diced
1/2 red onion, diced
1 jar Lindsay Kalamata Olives (pitted)
3/4 cup Athenos feta cheese crumbles
Garlic salt, to taste
Cracked black pepper, to taste

Preparation:
Cook pasta completely (not al dente) and drain, then rinse with cold water. Dice red onion and red bell pepper. Combine with olives, spinach, and feta. Add pasta and dressing; mix well. Season to taste.

Serves: 8-10

Nutrition Information: [to be added]

Notes: I know that there are recipes for Greek pasta salad out there, and I followed none of them. I just wanted to try something new and have been really into Greek salads lately. Rotelle was substituted for Radiatore for my maiden experiment with this dish, since my Cub is stupid and doesn’t have Radiatore. Also, I tend to just throw everything together and not worry about measurements, so the above proportions are estimated — I really did this to my own personal preference, but it turned out amazing and I wanted to share the idea.

Creamy Pepper Pasta

[photo to be added]

Ingredients:
1 bag (12 oz.) “No Yolk” broad egg noodles
3 bell peppers (1 red, 1 orange, 1 yellow), seeded and cut into strips
3 shallots (small), diced
2-4 cloves garlic, pressed
1/2 tsp. black pepper
1/2 tsp. sea salt or kosher salt
1 large jar (24 oz.) Classico Spicy Red Pepper Sauce
1 small jar (15 oz.) Classico Light Alfredo Sauce
2 Tbsp EVOO

Preparation:
Coat bottom of large sauté pan with EVOO. Set burner to medium heat. Add peppers and shallots. Sauté for approximately 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. After ten minutes, add fresh pressed garlic and seasoning (salt and pepper). Continue sauteing until veggies are soft and/or lightly browned. Pour sauce (both jars) into sauté pan and mix well to get a nice cream sauce. Reduce heat to simmer and cover sauce and vegetables. Cook pasta until soft (not al dente) and then drain. Spoon sauce/veggie mixture over noodles and serve.

Serves: 4-6

Nutrition Information: [to be added]

Notes: This recipe is a favorite among friends and family, and one that I happen to have created on my own. I was attempting to scrounge up stuff to make a meal one day in the apartment and wondered how it would taste if I threw all the above ingredients together. To my delight, it tasted pretty darn good. I have been asked several times when I’m going to “make that pepper pasta stuff again,” so I take that to mean it’s a hit. Hopefully it will be with you and yours as well.

Whole-Grain “Personal-Pan” Margherita Pizza

[photo to be added]

Ingredients:
1 package Joseph’s Flax Oat Bran Pita Bread (1 package contains 8 pitas)
1 cup thinly-sliced or chopped fresh basil
4 roma tomatoes, diced
1 Tbsp. Extra Virgin Olive Oil (EVOO)
1-1/3 cups Sargento Reduced Fat Mozzarella cheese
Jane’s Krazy (Original) Mixed-Up Salt (to taste)

Preparation:
Preheat oven to 375°. Place pita bread on baking sheet or stone and brush each with EVOO. Cover each pita with diced roma tomatoes and sprinkle with fresh basil, then cover with 1/3 cup shredded mozzarella. Add Mixed-Up Salt to taste and place in preheated oven. Bake for 8-10 minutes, or until cheese is melted.

Serves: 4-8

Nutrition Information: Each pizza yields approximately 132.5 calories and 7.5g fat. A delicious, healthy alternative to your neighborhood pizza joint!

Notes: This is one of my own concoctions (though I’m sure plenty of others have considered this combination before). I was growing weary of only eating salads on my diet and wanted to spice things up, but still stay within my tight calorie restrictions. I picked up some roma tomatoes at the store and looked for a type of flat-bread I could spread them on (my original intent was to make bruschetta), along with some fresh basil. At the last second, I decided to make them into pizzas, so I added reduced-fat mozzarella. It turned out so well that I made it a couple days later for my family, and they said that I had truly outdone myself. This is one healthy meal they wouldn’t mind eating again and again (though it was mentioned a few times that they wished they could have four or five of those little pizzas)!