If you’re looking to add one more dish to your Fourth of July spread then search no more! Pasta salad is the perfect addition to a summer gathering because it can easily be made in advance and will stay fresh for days. It is also fairly easy to find 100% whole-wheat pasta, which means this dish is “real food” approved. Rather than coming up with completely new recipes for pasta salad though I actually want to showcase two “older” 100 Days of Real Food recipes that can be reinvented by simply adding noodles.
Cucumber-Dill Pasta Salad
Ingredients
- 8 oz whole-wheat pasta, dry (like macaroni, penne, or rigatoni)
- 1 ½ cups plain yogurt, (preferably the whole-milk variety, but any type will work)
- ½ large cucumber, grated with a cheese grater
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- 1 tablespoon dill, finely chopped (or 1 teaspoon of dried dill)
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
- 3 carrots, peeled
Instructions
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Cook noodles according to package directions. Let them cool in fridge.
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Meanwhile prepare one recipe tzatziki sauce by simply mixing together all ingredients (yogurt through vinegar above). Add 1/8 teaspoon of salt to recipe.
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Chop, slice, or grate carrots.
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Mix together the pasta, sauce, and carrots. Garnish with carrot or dill.
The Caprese Pasta Salad Recipe has been moved to its own blog post. Give it a try, too!
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Jeanie
July 3, 2011 at 3:48 amSound and look lovely. Thanks.
Emily
July 3, 2011 at 10:54 pmHi! I just discovered your blog a few days ago through the Earthfare website. (I live in Ohio and we just got one sort of close to me – soo excited!) I love it and everything that you’re doing. My boyfriend and I have been eating this way (95% of the time) for about 8 months or so. We love it, but were getting a bit burnt out on eating the same thing over and over. We’ve recently started eating meat-free meals 3 or 4 days a week to add some variety and save money to buy higher quality meats when we do eat it. Your blog has given me many more ideas that I can’t wait to try! This change in lifestyle has made us both feel amazing, drop weight, have more energy, and just all around be healthier. I am so happy that there are people like you out there inspiring others to think twice about what they put in their bodies. We are struggling with one thing though… we have family dinners 1 or 2 nights a week, and we’re having a hard time getting our families to realize the benefits of healthy eating. Any suggestions? We’ve tried having them eat at our house about once a month and showing them that actual food can taste even better, and I’ve given them books and resources, but that doesn’t seem to be helping at all. we don’t know what else we can do, but we have to eat there.
100 Days of Real Food
July 12, 2011 at 2:38 amI always love hearing of another success story so thanks for sharing! I did just publish a post about convincing family members to switch to “real food” https://www.100daysofrealfood.com/2011/07/07/convincing-a-reluctant-spouse-to-eat-real-food/ but one thing I found is after HAVING to follow strict rules during our 100-day pledge (bring our own food, etc.) it somehow paved the way for us to keep eating “real food” continuously even though our pledge is over. It’s like everyone got used to the idea of us eating something different or just became more accepting (as if we had food allergies or something). So just a thought if you are eating with family on a regular basis…the pledge really is the perfect “excuse” so you can drop hints without offending anyone!
Amanda
July 4, 2011 at 5:06 pmI started reading your blog a couple of weeks ago and am quickly becoming obsessed. We have a limited budget, but I am definitely doing this! I reviewed the mini-pledges and I think I’m going to start back with the Week 1 pledge and just keep adding the rules following the pledges. THANK YOU for sharing your journey.
100 Days of Real Food
July 12, 2011 at 2:42 amSo glad you are enjoyed the site…good luck with the mini-pledges!
Paula
July 4, 2011 at 5:56 pmThanks for your info on getting the best prices for whole foods. I don’t usually go to Trader Joe’s since it’s not too close, but I made a north-end run today and found that their price for organic produce, cheese, and raw seeds and nuts are FANTASTIC! Like, in some cases, half the price of what I’ve been paying! Time to replan my pantry shopping!
P.S. I am getting REALLY good at making 100% whole wheat bread since I got inspired by your 2 challenges! I figure my cost for a delicious, soft, whole-food loaf is probably about 50 cents! (of course, only when I am going to be home for 4 hours anyway!)
100 Days of Real Food
July 12, 2011 at 2:43 amI would love to see your whole-wheat bread recipe if you don’t mind sharing! I am still trying to perfect a loaf since getting my bread machine.
Brooke Lewis-Slamkova
August 6, 2012 at 6:40 pmI found that it’s actually easier to make your own bread and pizza dough without a bread machine. I gave mine away after several frustrating attempts. I’m now experimenting using coconut oil. It’s been really fun.
Tiff
July 5, 2011 at 4:40 pmThat sounds great, especially the dill one. I wish I had seen it before our cookout last night!
Jennifer
July 12, 2011 at 6:36 pmWe tried the cucumber dill salad last night and it was amazing. We did add some tomatoes and a bit of roasted chicken on top. YUM! And so easy!
ash
October 20, 2011 at 12:04 amWhat brand of yogurt do you use?
100 Days of Real Food
October 25, 2011 at 3:38 pmI use Stonyfield organic whole-milk plain yogurt.
Katie
November 8, 2011 at 4:15 pmI love your recipes–especially this one! I would love them more if you could post the approximate nutritional information for easy viewing. Once I make the recipe, I can figure it out, but until I buy the ingredients, I’m not sure what I’m looking at in the calorie, fat, and protein department
I’m on Day 8 of the 10 Day Pledge and I’m loving the challenge! I’m sincerely considering pledging the 100 Days :)
100 Days of Real Food
November 16, 2011 at 12:50 pmI actually don’t post the nutritional information on purpose. We don’t count calories, fat grams, carbs, or any of that kind of stuff because we find that if we just eat a variety of whole foods (that’s heavy on plants and in reasonable moderation) the rest just falls into place effortlessly! It is definitely a lot easier than having to add up any numbers. :)
Anna
August 1, 2013 at 9:52 amNutrition information would be super helpful for those of us who must watch fat content (GERD) and carbohydrates (diabetes), though. I understand what you’re saying, but some families do have restrictions, and nutrition information would go a long way in helping them determine which recipes will work for their family. Thanks so much for all that you do already!
Rositsa Neame
February 22, 2012 at 3:22 pmHello,
Today is day 7th of my new life with Real Food. Me and my husband have been trying quite many recipes from your lovely blog and I just wanted to say THANK YOU for the lovely Caprese pasta salad! We’re amazed! :)
Amy
June 20, 2012 at 6:32 pmI made the Caprese version of this, added a little extra garlic to the pesto since i’m a garlic nut…..OMG! I’m certain I can hear the angels singing with every bite! So excited to find your blog and then find out that you are close by! So happy. Just moved to North Carolina from Wisconsin and this blog is transforming my kitchen!
Pamela Demaree
September 11, 2012 at 7:03 pmThought I would share what we did for dinner tonight. I tossed whole wheat pasta with pesto and added a can of organic garbanzo beans. Then, topped it off with a little shredded Parmesan. Simple, inexpensive and yummy!
Linda
June 22, 2013 at 2:20 pmThe WW pasta in the picture does not look like the pasta I have. The WW pasta I have is brown, and I haven’t tried it yet because I haven’t had success with brown WW spaghetti in the past. Have you tried it with the darker pasta? or do you think it would have too earthy of a taste?
Assistant to 100 Days (Amy)
June 24, 2013 at 7:15 amHi Linda. The pasta looks lighter because of how it was prepared. We assure you that it is 100% whole wheat pasta. ~Amy
Leslie Fossen
August 8, 2013 at 2:16 pmLove the Caprese salad! yum yum yum & my insides are smiling. A friend just recommended your site, so I’m trying out Meal Plan 4 this week. It’s so great! I love how kid-friendly & easy it is. I do agree with the comment about posting nutritional info. I get your point about why you don’t. My 6 yr old has type 1 diabetes, so I have to count his carbs to dose insulin with all food. Of course I can figure it out myself, but if there’s a bunch of us out here doing that on our own, it sure would be more efficient (for everyone but you guys, I know, lol) to have the info available on the site. But I certainly respect your rationale too. Thanks for the great site!
Cara Norris
September 6, 2013 at 6:25 pmThe caprese salad is on the table…I have been picking at it until everyone is at the table and assembled and it is DELICIOUS! So good! Great summer recipe!
Angela
October 9, 2013 at 3:16 pmWhat kind of store bought noodles fall under eating whole foods?
Assistant to 100 Days (Amy)
October 10, 2013 at 2:57 pmHi Angela. Look for pastas/noodles that are 100% whole grain. ~Amy
Heather
January 12, 2015 at 10:50 pmHi, I am just trying to clarify what this recipe is asking for. You list “1 recipe tzatziki sauce” with a hyperlink so I clicked and made the recipe that was linked. Then it looks like all the rest of the ingredients are the same that went into the tzatziki sauce recipe. I assumed these were not supposed to be added into the pasta again, right? It just seems a little redundant to list the “sauce” as an ingredient itself and then list all the ingredients that make up the sauce right below it. Maybe you can remove the ingredient “1 recipe tzatziki sauce” or if you want the link to be there then leave that and remove all the other ingredients. Do you see what I mean? Otherwise I am second guessing myself on whether the ingredients are actually doubled in this recipe.
Lisa
January 15, 2015 at 5:12 pmYou know what I think the ingredients for the tzatziki were originally indented underneath to show as being part of the tzatziki sauce bullet, but the formatting must have been lost when we transitioned to this printable recipe plugin. Thanks so much for pointing that out! It has been fixed :)