Greek Cucumber Pasta Salad

So I think I said something about a week ago about the New Year and trying to hop on the healthy bandwagon.  I wouldn’t say I would get an “A” so far, but I have been making the effort.  I saw this recipe online, either on Pinterest or Facebook, and pinned it to come back to.  I bought the ingredients over the weekend and decided to make it for lunch today.  I will admit that I’m not sure how much of a fan I am of garbanzo beans.  I love hummus, but that’s because they are mashed up along with lots of garlic and other things.  In this salad, I will say that I certainly didn’t NOT like them, but I wasn’t bowled over by them either.  But, trying to be on that healthier kick, I know they are good for me, so I will add them, but I will probably take my brother-in-law Joey’s advice (see, I gave you credit bro!) and maybe put half the can, instead of the whole can.  Each bite definitely tasted better to me when there is a heaping ratio of cucumbers and tomatoes with just a couple of the beans.  I will say that I’m a big fan of the rest – I love feta, I love how it coats to the pasta and the veggies, and I love the flavors.  Now, to figure out how healthy my lunch really was…

• 2 cups dry pasta of choice, cooked to al dente and drained
  (I used casserole elbows)
• 2 large seedless cucumbers, quartered and thinly sliced 
• 20 grape tomatoes cut in quarters 
• 15 oz. can garbanzo beans, drained 
• ½ cup crumbled feta cheese 
• ¼ tsp. kosher salt 
• ¼ tsp. garlic salt 
• Optional:  1 cup pitted kalamata olives

Creamy Feta Yogurt Dressing

• 1 cup plain Greek yogurt
• 2 Tbsp. buttermilk
  (I used powdered buttermilk and water) 
• ½ cup feta cheese
• 2 Tbsp. chopped shallots
  (I didn’t have shallots, so I sliced thin and diced 2 Tbsp. onion) 
• 1 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
• ¼ tsp. dried dill
• ¼ tsp. dried thyme
• ¼ tsp. garlic salt 
• ¼ tsp. freshly ground black pepper

DIRECTIONS

1. Place cucumbers, tomatoes, cooked pasta, garbanzo beans, Feta, salt and pepper into a large bowl. Stir to combine. 
2. To prepare dressing, place yogurt, buttermilk, Feta, shallots, olive oil, dill, thyme, garlic salt and black pepper into a blender. Blend until smooth and combined. 
3. Pour over salad then stir to combine.
4. Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve.

Makes 10-12 Servings

Adapted from Picky Palate blog

Nutritional Information from MyFitnessPal -- VERDICT == HEALTHY!!  :