Meatless Monday and Summer Salad

About a year ago, much to the dismay of my kid and husband, I jumped on the "Meatless Monday" bandwagon. However, due to our summer schedule, I haven't kept up with it.

Earlier this summer, I also decided to try and prepare main course salads once a week (just for the warmer months). I don't have a super-fun or alliterative name for this - despite the efforts of me and one of my more creative peeps - so its been dubbed Summer Salad.

For tonight's meal, I combined the best of both worlds - a Summer Salad for Meatless Monday! This of course made the non-veggie-eating hubs particularly thrilled.

BTW, this recipe comes courtesy of one of my new Mustard Seed purchases.

Seashell Salad with Buttermilk Chive Dressing
Source: Cooking Light Super Fresh & Simple Meals

Ingredients:

• 8oz uncooked seashell pasta
• 1 c frozen green peas
• 1/4 c organic canola mayo (I like Spectrum)
• 1/4 c fat-free buttermilk
• 1 tbsp minced fresh chives (I used dried)
• 1 tsp chopped fresh thyme (I used dried)
• 1/2 tsp salt (skip)
• 1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper (skip - don't like pepper)
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 c loosely packed baby arugula
• 1 tsp olive oil (skip)
• 2 oz finely chopped prosciutto (skipped to make it meatless)

Directions:

• Cook pasta according to package directions. Add peas to pasta during last 2 minutes of cooking. Drain and rinse with cold water; drain well.
• While pasta cooks, combine mayo and next 6 ingredients (through garlic) in a large bowl. Add pasta mixture and arugula; toss to coat.
• Heat oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Add prosciutto; saute 2 minutes. Drain on paper towels. Sprinkle over salad.

Yield: 4 servings (serving size: about 1.25 c salad and 1 tbsp prosciutto)
Calories: 373; Fat 14.9g (sat 1.4g, mono 4.4g; poly 7.5g); Protein: 13.6g; Carb: 45.7g; Fiber: 3.6g; Chol: 18mg; Iron: 2.8mg; Sodium: 677mg; Calc: 50mg (nutritional breakdown includes prosciutto)

Reviews:
Hubs thought the salad was good, but didn't seem like a main dish salad. I thought it was really fast and easy to prepare and it made a lot. The kid got out of eating it at the last minute because he ate at a friend's house instead.

Super fun salad dishes!