One of my favorite foods to eat currently is Low Carb Mock Pasta Salad. I have been eating lower carbs, and when you eat a low carb diet, you pretty much have to skip pasta. Well I LOVE Italian Pasta Salad. It is one of my favorite summer treats. Fresh tomatoes, fresh cucumbers, string cheese, pasta and Italian dressing. I came up with this recipe to be able to still get a similar flavor and crunch that I do with Pasta salad, but skipping the pasta. This dish is naturally gluten free, wheat free and can be made corn free/you just need to watch the Italian Dressing and String cheese for those pesky ingredients.
One of the reasons why I like making this so much, is it’s so easy! The Low Carb Mock Pasta Salad is even easier as you don’t need to boil noodles. The hardest part is peeling the string cheese! I love those kinds of recipes.
I purchase a fresh bag of Broccoli Slaw at Walmart. That is the grocery store that I have close by. The only ingredients are Shaved Broccoli, Red Cabbage and Shaved Carrots. You want to pick it up fresh, do not get the bags on clearance as the older bags will have a very strong Broccoli smell and it’s just too overpowering for this dish. If you cannot find something comparable at your local grocery store, you can make zoodles, Peel lengthwise, carrots, broccoli stems, cabbage (thin dice), or use a cheese grater. I did try this once with a Kale type slaw also from Walmart. I cannot recommend this as it smelled terrible and I couldn’t get more than a couple of bites in.
Low Carb Mock Pasta Salad
Ingredients
- 1 bag (16 ounces) Fresh bagged Broccoli Slaw
- 1-2 Cucumbers Peeled and sliced
- 10 ounces Cherry Tomatoes
- 12 String Cheese, individual wrapped
- 1 Can (2.25 oz) Sliced Olives
- 1/2 -1 Bottle (15 oz) Italian Dressing I used 1/2 a bottle so about 8 ounces
Instructions
- This is what the Broccoli Slaw looks like. Try to find something similar or duplicate it with your own raw ingredients. It is Shredded Broccoli Stalks, Shredded Red Cabbage, Shredded Carrots.
- Pour the Fresh Broccoli Slaw into the mixing bowl.
- Wash the Tomatoes and add to the slaw in the bowl.
- Add the Sliced Olives to the Bowl.
- Wash and Peel Cucumber (s). Slice in 1/2 inch slices and add to the mixing bowl.
- Peel the string cheese, and slice into bite sized pieces and add to the mixing bowl.
- I used about half of the Italian Dressing and mixed it into the salad. You can add more if you choose. Because all of these ingredients should already be cold (except olives), I didn't worry about refrigerating it, instead it's ready to serve, but do refrigerate leftovers when you are done.
- When you eat the leftovers you may need to add another tablespoon of dressing as the veggies will soak up the first layer. Eat within 3 days if possible.
