Low sodium pasta dish

This week Jo and I are in our research rotation. We learned that research dietitians work in clinical trial settings to implement the effects of specific diets on the body. These diets are EXTREMELY detailed and measured down to the mg.

One of our assignments was to design a low sodium, low potassium, 2000 calorie meal plan. Thank goodness for food processor! This awesome computer program allows us to play with amounts, foods, and combinations to find the perfect meal plan. It took us about an hour - not easy to limit sodium to 250 mg! (As a reference - a slice of bread can contain that much sodium)

Kelley, our director, brought us to a kitchen on campus this morning to test out our recipes. Dana and I planned a cold vegetable pasta salad. We were asked to plan everything in grams so we were curious to see if our grams were well portioned. We used a lot of balsamic vinegar because it has calories but very low sodium.

SURPRISE - the pasta salad was so good, it was blog worthy. Except for a little too much balsamic vinegar...

This is a "recipe" that is really no recipe at all. Use whatever you have in your fridge!

Recipe

1 cup farfalle pasta (1 cup = 2 servings)

*whole wheat

a few slices cucumber chopped

a few slices of avocado chopped

*add any other vegetables you chose

1-2 pieces of cheese chopped

*whichever cheese you prefer. we used swiss because it is naturally lower in sodium

2 tablespoon balsamic vinegar

1/2 tsp of olive oil

Cook pasta and toss it all together

Well-balanced, low sodium pasta dish

-whole wheat pasta provides fiber

-avocado and olive oil provide healthy monounsaturated fats

-add grilled chicken or slivered almonds for protein