Greek Pasta Salad With Creamy Feta Dressing

This is one of the salads that you are going to want to have a long term relationship with.

None of that "You're great, I'll call you sometime" kind of relationships. 

This is totally a "Oh my gosh let's go to Vegas and get married today" salad.

In fact, you may just want to get all up in that bowl and never leave. 

And, you know what, YOU CAN. You can eat this and eat this and eat this and not feel the least bit guilty. 

Want to know the nutritional count? 

For a quarter of the recipe (A LOT by the way) it is:

291 calories, 32 carbs, 11 fat, and 22 protein.

*gasp*

Yeah.

So.

Marry this one. 

Greek Pasta Salad With Creamy Feta Dressing

Ingredients

Creamy Feta Dressing

1/2 cup 0 fat Greek yogurt

1 Tbsp 1% buttermilk

1/2 cup light feta cheese, crumbled

1 small shallot, diced

1/2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil

1/8 tsp dried dill

1/8 tsp dried thyme

sprinkle garlic salt

sprinkle onion powder

sprinkle black pepper

Salad

1 cup Catelli Healthy Harvest whole wheat rotini

2 large cucumbers, chopped

18 grape tomatoes, halved

1/2 cup chickpeas, rinsed and drained

1 small shallots, diced

1/4 cup light feta, crumbled

Directions

Prepare dressing - place Greek yogurt, buttermilk, feta, shallot, olive oil, and spices in a blender.

Process mixture until smooth, stopping to scrape down the sides as necessary.

Chill dressing until ready to use. The longer it can sit the more the flavors can mingle. Try to let it sit for at least an hour. 

Prepare salad - Cook whole wheat pasta according to package directions. Drain and rinse with cold water to stop the cooking process and cool pasta. Place pasta in a large bowl. 

Add in cucumbers, tomatoes, chickpeas, shallots, and half the feta (keep the other half to sprinkle on top when you serve it.) Stir well to combine.

Stir in the prepared dressing until well combined. 

The dressing may seem thick but it thins when you mix it with the salad. 

Sprinkle with the remaining feta and serve.

This recipe makes 4 large servings. If you are serving this as a side with a meal you should get way more servings. I counted the 4 as "eating just the salad as a meal" servings. 

I'm thinking I might even throw a chopped up cooked chicken breast in there and make it an even more complete meal. The calories would maybe be 100 calories per serving more at the most. A complete meal coming in under 400 calories! Those are my favorite.  

Oh. Yeah. I almost forgot....

You may have noticed there is no kalamata olives in this. That is because I find them yucky. If you want to throw a few in there that is up to you. 

(P.S. - Don't do it! Olives are nasty.... just sayin')

Be sure to visit My Turn (for us)  and Kitchen Fun With My 3 Sons and Hun...What's For Dinner and Carole's Chatter for some links to other fantastic recipes and crafts!