7 Healthy Pasta Recipes That Won't Destroy Your Waistline
Let's face it — many pasta dishes are calorie bombs. Loaded with rich, tasty cheeses, salt, and sometimes fatty (but delicious) meats, pasta dishes often get a bad rap for adding to our waistlines. Even that angel hair with marinara sauce that you love so much might not be so great for you — just how much olive oil is in your grandma's beloved recipe, anyway? (Not that olive oil is bad for you; on the contrary, it has many health benefits, but as with many things, it's best in moderation.)
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And if you've somehow managed to keep to some semblance of your new year's resolution to get into shape, it would be a shame to throw all that work away just to satisfy a bit of temptation. Still, we're with you; after a long, hard day at work or school, who doesn't crave a big bowl of pasta and a glass of wine?
That's why this week, The Daily Meal staff and members of the Culinary Content Network decided to take on the challenge of making pasta dishes healthier. Here are a few highlights:
- Lori Yates, member of the Culinary Content Network and author of the blog foxes love lemons, has a Spring Vegetable and Chicken Primavera that's loaded with delicious vegetables and is big on flavor.
- Try my Whole-Wheat Spaghetti with Heirloom Tomatoes, which ups the flavor factor with a secret pantry ingredient you may not have considered before.
- And don't miss out on this week's winning recipe, Linguine with Kale Pesto by Girl in the Little Red Kitchen — delicious, simple, and addictive.
All of the recipes featured here can be made at home for about $25 or less, excluding the cost of small amounts of basic ingredients such as butter, oil, flour, sugar, salt, pepper, and other dried herbs and spices.
Will Budiaman is the Recipe Editor at The Daily Meal. Follow him on Twitter @WillBudiaman.