Healthy, simple pasta sides?

[starfishkitty]

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?

[LittleMissScoop]

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

[weightlosswanted]

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)

[paris81]

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.

[starfishkitty]

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...

[Pita09]

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

[starfishkitty]

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

[paris81]

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.

[Bombe]

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.