Healthy and Creative Ways with Pasta

When buying pastas, consider buying whole wheat versions. Whole wheat pasta has about 3 times the fiber, plus antioxidants and other nutrients not found in pasta made with white flour. Keep your dry pastas in a cool, dry pantry. Use them within a year.

• Add peas, asparagus, chopped cauliflower or sliced carrots during the last 3-4 minutes of the pasta cooking time. The pasta will absorb some of the vegetable flavor.
• Boil pasta in fat-free, reduced-sodium chicken broth, or broth plus a chopped onion or garlic clove.
• Top cooked pasta with reduced-fat cream soup for a tasty sauce.
• Top cooked pasta with canned low-fat chili (2 tbsp per serving) plus a sprinkle of low-fat cheese.
• Top cooked pasta with heated salsa.
• Toss cooked pasta with a bit of olive oil and a can of water-packed tuna, drained. Top with a bit of Parmesan cheese.
• Thin bottled pesto sauce with fat-free, reduced-sodium chicken broth to lower the fat content. Toss in pasta and add chopped rehydrated sun-dried tomatoes.

• Add chopped ginger to pasta as it cooks; top pasta with lite soy sauce and a can of heated Asian vegetables.

• Add any kind of cooked dried or canned beans to the pasta to add non-animal protein to the dish.
• Add real vegetables to your pasta dishes to get their nutrient content higher. The colored pastas such as carrot, beet or spinach are certainly pretty and add variety but they don't count as a vegetable serving.

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