Asparagus Whole Wheat Pasta With Lemon Dressing

I was reading Self magazine the other day, and I decided I'm going to do the Self Challenge. They offer diet and workout plans that will supposedly help you lose 10 lbs. in 2 weeks. I'm not looking to lose weight that quickly, so I'm following my own diet plan. Basically I'm going to try to add in more veggies and minimize things like cheese. But if I get hungry, I refuse to deny myself a snack because I'm am only supposed to eat exactly X calories per day. I'm an avid believer in not counting calories, because a lot of calorie intake comes from things that are good for you like healthy fats and sugars from fruit. So I always say nutrients over calories! I am however sticking with the workout plan, which you can find at www.self.com under "Drop 10" if you're interested.

The point of my story is, I found this recipe in the magazine. It was in a separate section from the "Self Challenge," but it caught my attention. Awesome thing #1: My absolute favorite vegetable has always been and will forever be asparagus. Awesome thing #2: I actually already had everything I needed to make this. Except for sun dried tomatoes, but that just took me a 5 minute grocery store trip on my way home from the Y.

My changes: I didn't really measure anything out for this, so here's an idea for what I did...I used zest and juice from 2 small lemons. I can't afford fresh basil, so I used a palm full of dried basil in the sauce instead. I also topped it with 4 oz. of salmon which I seasoned with S&P and baked at 375 for 15 minutes on a baking dish with cooking spray.

Ingredients:
1 lb. fresh asparagus, trimmed and cut into bite size pieces
4 oz. whole-wheat penne
1/4 cup sun dried tomatoes, chopped
1 cup fresh basil, chopped
1 tbsp grated lemon zest
1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 tbsp fresh lemon juice
1/4 cup crumbled feta (can also use goat cheese for a creamier taste)

Boil asparagus until tender, 3 to 5 minutes. Remove asparagus from water with a slotted spoon. Add pasta to boiling water, and cook as directed on package. Drain pasta and add to a bowl with all remaining ingredients except cheese. Stir to combine. Portion into 2 bowls and top with feta. Salt to taste.

Contains 387 calories per serving, 13 g fat (3 saturated), 58 g carbs, 12 g fiber, 17 g protein
(plus whatever was in the salmon)

Taste rating: 8
Another winner! I feel weird that I never give things low ratings, but if I like something, I want to do it justice. I'm sure it would be even better with fresh basil, but until I'm making a salary, I'm stuck with the dried stuff.

Easy rating: 8
This was as easy as making any pasta. While the penne cooked, I went ahead and made the sauce in a bowl and then just mixed everything together and plated it up!

Overall rating: 8