Pasta salad with creamy chive dressing

2
Points®
Total Time
23 min
Prep
11 min
Cook
12 min
Serves
4
Difficulty
Easy
This lemony pasta salad is just the cooling antidote to a hot summer evening you need. We use fusilli pasta because its curves catch every bit of the creamy dressing, which is made with fat-free yogurt, chives, and fresh lemon juice and zest. Let it hang in the fridge for maximum deliciousness. The combination of summer squash, sweet red peppers, fresh cherry tomatoes, with thinly sliced basil on top is both colorful and irresistible flavor-wise. You can also transform this recipe into a main-dish salad by garnishing each serving with 1/2 cup diced cooked skinless chicken breast.

Ingredients

Plain fat free yogurt

2 Tbsp

Chives

1 tsp, fresh, snipped

Fresh lemon juice

1 tsp

Lemon zest

½ tsp, grated

Table salt

½ tsp

Black pepper

¼ tsp, freshly ground

Uncooked whole wheat pasta

4 oz, (about 2 cups) fusilli variety

Uncooked yellow summer squash

1 medium, sliced

Red bell pepper

1 medium, seeded and diced

Cherry tomatoes

6 medium, halved

Fresh basil

8 leaf/leaves, fresh, thinly sliced

Instructions

  1. Combine the yogurt, chives, lemon juice, lemon zest, salt, and pepper in a small bowl. Refrigerate, covered, until the flavors are blended, at least 1 hour.
  2. Cook the fusilli according to package directions adding the squash to the pot during the last minute of cooking. Drain the fusilli and squash and rinse under cold water. Place in a large serving bowl; add the bell pepper and tomatoes. Whisk the yogurt dressing, pour over the pasta mixture, and toss to coat. Garnish with the basil leaves. Yields about 1 1/4 cups per serving.