I've been reading again...I've actually been doing quite a bit of research lately into my diet and how I can improve it. The most amazing thing I'm learning is that it really doesn't matter how many veggies you eat, you're still not eating enough. I'm not sure I'm advocating a vegetarian lifestyle, because man I love meat. But we all could use more vegetables. The nice thing is you can eat as many as you want without really affecting your daily caloric intake goals. I've always believed vegetables shouldn't count toward that. Last night for dinner I filled a 5 gallon bowl with salad and ate the whole thing.
At any rate, here's my complaint. A lot of recipes will claim to be healthy because they contain some vegetables. I've made and enjoyed pasta salad for years that has about 16 oz of pasta and a bag of frozen peas and carrots, and considered it healthy. But here's the thing: your body needs AT LEAST 3 servings of vegetables daily, and an entire bag of frozen peas and carrots is barely that. So you'd have to eat your entire pasta salad to get your 3 servings of vegetables. Unless you had an enormous salad for lunch and a green smoothie for breakfast.
My goal here was simple. I wanted to make a salad, and add pasta to it. Not the other way around, as it usually goes. My challenge is always the amount of pasta. I feel like I have the perfect amount of veggies, and then I add way too much pasta. Well. This time I had the perfect combination. And so I'm posting it here for all of you to enjoy :)
Let me also give a quick shameless plug for broccoli. Everyone should eat broccoli every day. It's one of the most potent anti-cancer vegetables out there.
Mostly Veggie Pasta Salad
3 crowns broccoli, chopped
1 bag frozen peas and carrots
1 can olives
1/2 kielbasa sausage
~8 oz pasta (I used farfalla)
~1/4 c Italian dressing (I made my own but don't have the recipe on hand)
~1/8 c parmesan cheese
Cook the pasta al dente. Slice the kielbasa thinly and fry on the stove. Then quarter each slice. Stir everything together. Easy peasy.
At any rate, here's my complaint. A lot of recipes will claim to be healthy because they contain some vegetables. I've made and enjoyed pasta salad for years that has about 16 oz of pasta and a bag of frozen peas and carrots, and considered it healthy. But here's the thing: your body needs AT LEAST 3 servings of vegetables daily, and an entire bag of frozen peas and carrots is barely that. So you'd have to eat your entire pasta salad to get your 3 servings of vegetables. Unless you had an enormous salad for lunch and a green smoothie for breakfast.
My goal here was simple. I wanted to make a salad, and add pasta to it. Not the other way around, as it usually goes. My challenge is always the amount of pasta. I feel like I have the perfect amount of veggies, and then I add way too much pasta. Well. This time I had the perfect combination. And so I'm posting it here for all of you to enjoy :)
Let me also give a quick shameless plug for broccoli. Everyone should eat broccoli every day. It's one of the most potent anti-cancer vegetables out there.
Mostly Veggie Pasta Salad
3 crowns broccoli, chopped
1 bag frozen peas and carrots
1 can olives
1/2 kielbasa sausage
~8 oz pasta (I used farfalla)
~1/4 c Italian dressing (I made my own but don't have the recipe on hand)
~1/8 c parmesan cheese
Cook the pasta al dente. Slice the kielbasa thinly and fry on the stove. Then quarter each slice. Stir everything together. Easy peasy.
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