Name: Creamy Pasta Salad
Prep time: 20 min
Total time: 40 min
Yield: 6 cups (about 4 servings)

The perfect combination of tangy and creamy, tender and super-fresh-crunchy.

Simple, but delicious. Rich and flavorful, but healthy and slimming. It’s just the perfect pasta salad!

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We may just pasta salad our way through this summer season.

Skinny Summer Pasta Salad

This pasta salad is MUCH better for you than regular pasta salad. Here’s why:

It’s lower in calories (about 150 calories lower!), it’s higher in fiber (one of the essential nutrients for healthy weight loss), and has zero cholesterol (the average pasta salad is loaded with cholesterol).

Creamy Pasta Salad

Prep 20 mins

Inactive 20 mins

Total 40 mins

Author All recipes on jenniferskitchen.com are property of Jennifer's Kitchen and cannot republished without prior written permission.

Yield 6 cups (about 4 servings)

A delicious pasta salad that is so much healthier than traditional pasta salad.

Ingredients

5 ounces uncooked Tinkyada pasta (about 2 cups uncooked spiral pasta)

1 recipe Creamy Italian Salad Dressing

1/2 cup olives, cut into halves (I use Lindsay Naturals tree-ripened olives)

1 small cucumber or 1/2 medium cucumber, diced small (about 1 cup)

1/4 large red onion or sweet onion, cut into thin slivers (about 2/3 cup)

2 tablespoons diced bell peppers – optional

1/3 cup water

1 cup cherry tomato halves

Instructions

Cook pasta according to package directions. (See note #1.)
Meanwhile, prepare remaining ingredients.
When pasta is done, drain well and transfer to a mixing bowl.
While pasta is still hot, very gently mix in Creamy Italian Salad Dressing. Rinse blender with 1/3 cup water and add this to the pasta. Mixture will appear soupy, but it will thicken as it chills.
Chill, stirring once or twice while chilling.
When pasta is cool, stir in vegetables.
Immediately before serving, gently mix in tomatoes.
Garnish with fresh basil if desired.

Notes

1. You can use 5 sliced green onion instead of red onion or sweet onion.

2. I tested this recipe with Tinkyada pasta (because it is our favorite pasta). Tinkyada tends to absorb the dressing much more than other pastas. No guarantees this recipe will work with other brands of pasta.