Grilled Vegetable Pasta Salad

This cool, zesty salad is a nice dish for a warm summer evening.

Ingredients:

4 cups cooked whole wheat pasta (fusili, penne work well)
1 red bell pepper
½ large eggplant or 1 small
1 yellow squash
1 zucchini
1 cup broccoli florets
1 cup button mushrooms
1/4 cup corn (fresh, canned or thawed frozen)
1/2 cup chopped kalamata or black olives
¼ cup olive oil
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
3 tablespoons chopped fresh basil

Directions:

Cook pasta according to package directions- 4 cups cooked is needed for this recipe. Preheat grill or a large pan (if no grill available). Rinse all the vegetables well. Cut the pepper, zucchini and yellow squash lengthwise into ¼ inch strips. Cut the eggplant into ¼ inch thick rounds. Skewer the broccoli and mushrooms or place them on foil if using a grill, otherwise lay them in the pan.



Grill the vegetables on high heat, about 5-7 minutes on each side, until lightly browned. Set aside to cool. Once the pasta is cooked, rinse it in a strained and put into a large bowl. Chop the grilled vegetables into one inch cubes and add to the bowl. Throw in the olives and corn. In a small bowl whisk together the vinegar, oil and basil and pour over the pasta and vegetables. Chill and serve.

Note: recipes using whole wheat pasta- two ounces of dry pasta yields about 1 cup of cooked pasta. You will need four times that amount (8 ounces) for this recipe.

Makes 8 cups 8 servings

Serving size: 1 cup Calories 200 Protein 5 g Carb 28 g Fiber 5 g Sugars 4 g Fat 9 g Saturated fat 1 g Sodium 100 mg