Peas & Ham Pasta Salad

This creamy pasta salad recipe with peas, ham and mushrooms is lower in calories and fat compared to a classic pasta salad. Using whole-wheat pasta and loading it with plenty of vegetables makes it as nutritious as it is delicious. If you have fresh-shelled peas on hand, use those instead of frozen peas. For the best flavor, combine the pasta salad with the dressing about 1 hour before serving.

Ingredients (6 dishes)

Dressing
1 clove garlic, minced
¼ teaspoon salt
½ cup buttermilk
¼ cup low-fat mayonnaise
3 tablespoons chopped fresh dill or 1 tablespoon dried
1 tablespoon distilled white vinegar

Pasta Salad
10 ounces (about 2 cups) whole-wheat elbow noodles
1¾ cups sliced button mushrooms
1¾ cups peas, fresh or frozen (thawed)
1 cup diced ham
¼ cup finely chopped sweet onion, such as Vidalia
Onions Sweet
2 hard-boiled eggs, chopped
½ cup diced Cheddar cheese
Freshly ground pepper to taste

Preparation (Ready in 35 min)
To prepare dressing: Mash garlic and salt in a medium bowl with the back of a spoon into a chunky paste. Add buttermilk, mayonnaise, dill and vinegar; whisk until combined. To prepare pasta salad: Cook pasta in a large pot of boiling water according to package directions. Drain, transfer to a large bowl and let cool. Add mushrooms, peas, ham, onion, eggs, cheese, pepper and the dressing; toss to coat.
To hard-boil eggs, place in a single layer in a saucepan; cover with 1 inch of water. Bring just to a simmer over medium-high heat. Reduce heat to low and cook at the barest simmer for 10 minutes. Remove from heat, immediately pour out hot water and cover the eggs with ice-cold water. Let stand in the water until cool.

Nutrition information
Serving size: about 1⅓ cups
Per serving: 337 calories 9 g fat(3 g sat); 6 g fiber; 46 g carbohydrates; 21 g protein; 65 mcg folate; 88 mg cholesterol; 4 g sugars; 0 g added sugars; 1037 IU vitamin A; 9 mg vitamin C; 130 mg calcium; 3 mg iron; 655 mg sodium; 375 mg potassium
Nutrition Bonus: Vitamin A (21% daily value)
Carbohydrate Servings: 3
Exchanges: 2 starch, ½ vegetable, 1 lean meat, ½ medium-fat meat, ½ high-fat meat, ½ fat