Healthy Recipe Thursday: Shrimp Macaroni Salad

This week I want to share another recipe from Weight Watchers Recipes blog. I am having a lot of fun trying out the Weight Watchers recipes on this blog. Most of them include simple ingredients and, so far, are delicious.

This time I want to share the Shrimp Macaroni Salad recipe with you. This is my favorite one so far. (I was going to post a picture, but I forgot to snap a shot before it was all eaten!)

My Notes on the Recipe

The recipe for this dish calls for several high-point foods, like sour cream, mayonnaise and macaroni. Rather than using the regular version of these foods, I substituted them for lower point versions.

I used low-fat sour cream (only because our Wal-Mart didn’t have the fat-free, otherwise I would have used that), and fat-free mayonnaise. Rather than using regular pasta, I bought a box of Smart Taste elbow macaroni, which is loaded with fiber, thus keeping the points fairly low.

One other thing I will do differently the next time I make this (because I will make this again!) is use a small amount of shredded cheese, rather than the cubes. I think this will help cut down on points, too. My sister also made me aware that Wal-Mart now carries a brand of Weight Watchers cheese, so I might even check that out.

Even after using reduced and non-fat items, my points added up to be about the same as the recipe. However, The recipe says this makes 6 servings, but I’ve gotten much more out of it than that. So if you eat a “healthy” portion of it, I’d count at least 8 points. But if you only eat about a cup or so, like me, then you can probably count only about 5 points per serving. (This recipe made a huge bowl for me. I ate some, my husband ate some, and I gave a hearty bowl of it to my little sister, so it went a long way.)

My Thoughts on the Recipe

I think what I love most about this recipe is that it’s super simple. The only cooking you do is the pasta, and that’s not such a big deal. This dish is served cold and has a clean, summer-y taste. That’s the best way I know to describe it.

You could make this dish to bring to brunch, dinner parties, etc. and nobody would ever know that it’s a Weight Watchers dish. It’s really that good. My husband even likes it, and he doesn’t usually enjoy eating my Weight Watchers food.

CLICK HERE for the Shrimp Macaroni Salad recipe.