A healthy recipe for pasta salad with cucumber salsa

Shaped pasta trap an herby yogurt and tomato dressing so that each one is full of flavour. A refreshing vegetable and fruit salsa brings extra nutritional value as well as exciting taste and texture contrast.

• Preparation time: 40–50 minutes, plus cooling and 1 hour chilling.
• Serves 4.

Ingredients:

Salad

• 250 g (8 oz) any shaped whole-grain pasta
• 60 ml (4 tbsp) chopped fresh parsley
• 60 ml (4 tbsp) chopped fresh mint
• 60 ml (4 tbsp) snipped fresh chives
• 30 ml (2 tbsp) fresh tarragon
• 4 tomatoes, skinned, seeded, and chopped
• 250 ml (1 c) plain low-fat yogurt
• 1 avocado
• Pepper to taste
• Sprigs of fresh mint for garnish

Salsa

• 4 celery stalks, finely diced
• 1 green pepper, seeded and finely diced or chopped
• 1⁄2 cucumber, diced or chopped
• 4 scallions, finely sliced or chopped
• Grated zest of 1 lime (optional)
• 250 g (1 c) watercress, coarsely chopped
• 5 ml (1 tsp) olive oil
• 1 crisp apple

Instructions:

1. Cook the pasta in boiling water, according to the package instructions, until al dente, 10 to 12 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, mix the parsley, mint, chives and tarragon with the tomatoes in a large bowl (the bowl should be large enough to hold the cooked pasta, too). Add a little seasoning and then stir in the yogurt.
3. Drain the cooked pasta thoroughly, shaking the shapes in a colander to make sure that there is no cooking water trapped in them. Add the hot pasta to the yogurt dressing and use a large spoon to turn them until they are thoroughly coated.
4. Cover and set aside to cool until just warm. The pasta salad tastes good warm, or it can be served cold, in which case leave to cool completely, then chill for 1 hour. The pasta can be dressed several hours in advance if this is more convenient.
5. Meanwhile, mix together the celery, green pepper, cucumber and scallions. Stir in the lime zest, if using, and the watercress. Cover and set aside.
6. Shortly before serving, stir the oil into the cucumber mixture with seasoning to taste. Quarter, core and finely dice the apple, leaving its peel on. Add to the cucumber salsa and stir well so that the apple is mixed in.
7. Halve the avocado and remove the pit, then cut it lengthwise into quarters and peel off the skin. Dice the flesh and mix it into the pasta.
8. Serve the cucumber salsa as an accompaniment to the pasta so that it can be added to taste. (The hot pasta absorbs its yogurt dressing, becoming quite dry as it cools, so the cucumber salsa acts as a second dressing.) Garnish with sprigs of mint and serve immediately.

• With roughly a dozen fresh fruits, vegetables and herbs in this recipe, you'll be certain to get a wonderful cross-section of vitamins, minerals and phytochemicals. While vegetables are always good, getting a mix of them is even better for your health than having a single vegetable per meal.

Each serving provides:

• Key nutrients: 380 calories, 90 calories from fat, 10 g fat, 2 g saturated fat, 0 g trans fat, 14 g protein, 61g  carbohydrates, 7 g fibre, 100 mg sodium.
• Blood pressure nutrients: 66 mg vitamin C, 88 mg magnesium, 1077 mg potassium, 177 mg calcium.

• Add a finely chopped garlic clove to the yogurt dressing.
• Keep the yogurt dressing green by omitting the tomatoes, and make a red salsa using red pepper, instead of green, and a red-skinned apple. Add the tomatoes to the salsa and season it with a little paprika to warm both the flavour and colour.

Keep this recipe in mind and try making some delicious pasta salad with cucumber salsa today!