Hi, my name is Ashley and I have a problem. I love pasta salad. I love it with creamy dressing. I love it with oily dressing. I even love bad pasta salad with just too much Italian dressing poured on it. It makes my heart go pitter patter. That’s probably all of the sodium in the Italian dressing wreaking havoc on my cardiovascular system. Let’s face it, pasta salad is yummy but not exactly healthy.
A month ago I attended the Fuel Up to Play 60 Rally for School Health. It’s an event geared toward teaching kids how to incorporate 60 minutes of exercise daily and eat a healthy balanced diet. Interested youth can find out more here. All of the food we eat during the day is healthy and balanced. Normally I like all of the food but the portions are usually a little small for someone that burns 3,000 calories a day or more. This time they had a Chickpea Salad that rocked my world because it was delicious. It really did taste like pasta salad because the chickpeas are an amazing replacement for the noodles. I had to stop at the grocery store on the way home, so I could actually by the ingredients to make the salad as soon as I got home.
- 4 cans chickpeas, drained and rinsed
- 1/2 green and red pepper diced
- 1 small red onion, diced
- Italian dressing to taste, about 3/4 cup
- In a large bowl mix all of the ingredients together. Add more dressing as you see fit. Let set for at least 2 hours. Enjoy as a side salad or a snack.
