Broccoli Grape Harvest Salad

This will be the last recipe in my "Things to Bring to the White Mountains" series!  Like I said, those Cormiers eat a lot, so I knew I wanted to bring my giant platter of cookies, but I also wanted to bring a pasta salad.  I decided to try out a new recipe and make a giant double batch.  It can be scary to bring a brand new recipe up for about 15 people to try, but luckily, it worked out!

Some of Joey's third helping of salad!

When I saw this on Pinterest, I was intrigued: a pasta salad with grapes?  And broccoli?  Not to mention chopped toasted pecans.  I knew I had to give it a try, but with some tweaks.  I used no mayonnaise, rather than the recipe's suggestion of half mayo and half Greek yogurt.  I am a mayo hated, so I used all yogurt.  I also left out the turkey bacon (are you surprised?).  To be honest, I bought the bacon, but I just never got around to making it and adding it to the salad, so vegetarian it stayed.  Last, although I did double the recipe, I did not double the sugar; I thought adding 2/3 cup to any side dish was going to turn it into instant dessert!  I am glad I did it, because it came out just perfect.  Lastly, I used regular pasta, not whole wheat, because I was afraid my family would complain!

The salad was a huge hit.  Twangy, creamy, salty, sweet, and healthy (it's from a site called Eat Yourself Skinny!), everyone loved it.  I was surprised to see how much the boys enjoyed it; I saw Joey eat thirds at dinner one night, and Ross confessed to eating the last serving that we had saved in a Ziplock bag "like a push-up pop."  And Kelsey, who claims she always hates the ingredients in my food but then loves what I make, said she is not a fan of Greek yogurt but loved the salad.  So it is possible to make a healthy salad without any mayonnaise and have it actually taste good!

Recipe:

broccoli grape harvest salad
from Eat Yourself Skinny

Servings: 8
Calories: 244
Fat: 5.5 g
Points+: 6 points


Ingredients:

1/2 of a 16 ounce box of whole wheat bow-tie pasta (farfalle)
1 pound fresh broccoli
1/2 cup light mayonnaise (this can be replaced by Greek yogurt)
1/2 cup nonfat plain yogurt (I used Greek)
1/3 cup sugar
1/3 cup diced red onion
1/3 cup red wine vinegar
1 teaspoon salt
2 cups seedless red grapes
6 cooked turkey bacon slices, crumbled
1/4 cup chopped pecans

Instructions:

1) Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Bake pecans in a single layer in a shallow pan for about 6 minutes until lightly toasted and fragrant, stirring halfway through.  Then prepare pasta according to package directions.

2) Meanwhile, cut broccoli florets from stems and separate into small pieces using a paring knife.   In a large bowl, mix together mayonnaise, yogurt, sugar, red onion, vinegar, and salt and toss with broccoli, hot cooked pasta, and grapes.  Stir to coat.  Cover and chill for up to 3 hours.  Stir in bacon and toasted pecans just before serving.