Healthy, simple pasta sides?
 

Anyone have any ideas for some healthy, simple pasta sides?

Stuff with little ingredients, low calories (preferable), and easy to make?

Or is that asking too much?

I've got a great recipe from WW, pasta puttinesca. It's basically a marinara sauce (chopped tomatoes, onion, garlic, herbs) with olives and capers. There's a recipe here, interesting about the word puttana lol!

whats4eats.com/pastas/pasta-alla-puttanesca-recipe

toss your pasta (whole grain, of course!) with a little olive oil and garlic, add a vegetable or 2 to taste and sprinkle with parmesan cheese. (saute the garlic and veggies in the olive oil)

I do the olive oil and garlic thing that weightlosswanted recommends. There is a specific trick to making it really good--cook the pasta, drain. Then in the pot (no pasta yet), add the olive oil and garlic. Turn the heat on low. Let the garlic warm up just a bit, it will sizzle in the olive oil. Wait until you can just smell it open up (not too long, you don't want it to burn), then add the pasta. I usually add a dash of salt, and it's so good, you don't even need the parmesean cheese if you want to skip those calories.

How much olive oil are we talking? Like.... for instance... 3 cups of pasta you'd use how much olive oil?

And I take it when you add the pasta you remove it from the heat and just toss? :)

Thanks ladies.. this is exactly what I was looking for... :)

I often just toss some whole-wheat pasta with a good brand of fat-free Italian dressing and a sprinkling of parmesan cheese.

That sounds really good too Pita! Gonna try that as well! Thanks! :)

I usually use about 1 teaspoon of olive oil per serving of pasta. Then when you toss it all, you can keep the heat on as low as possible for a bit, strirring frequently (otherwise it sticks to the bottom of the pan). I helps infuse the flavor into the pasta.

My favorite pasta side is Cous Cous, I usually just buy the flavored ones but sometimes I'll buy the plain and flavor it myself with cut up tomatoes, bell peppers, a splash of greek or italian vinaigrette and a sprinkle of feta cheese.