The Thursday before last, my mom and I got a call that my Papaw was in the hospital. He’d developed severe pneumonia, and it didn’t look like he was going to make it. We drove to Kentucky to be with him and the rest of the family.
Then, after a few days in the local hospital, he was flown by helicopter to a hospital with life support capabilities. There he’s been on a ventilator for the last 5 days, and defying everyone’s expectations, he’s improving. While he’s not out of the woods yet, after 8 days living out of a suitcase and working out of a hospital lobby, my mom and I felt things were stable enough to come home.
As you can imagine, the last week has been a roller coaster of end-of-life issues.
Killer food
Caution: Not for human consumption! (Image credit: Arnold Gatilao via Flickr)
However, this emergency trip was also an eye-opening glimpse into a dangerous food culture.
Even more than in Maryland, in Kentucky, fried chicken, greasy burgers, and french fries are the norm. So are high blood pressure, heart disease, and diabetes. I saw nurses and techs working in the hospital who looked so sick they might soon need a hospital room soon themselves. I saw patients far too young fighting for their lives from what seemed to be lifestyle-related illness.
So much senseless suffering! It doesn’t have to be this way!
After all, delicious, nutritious food can prevent, or even reverse, many cases of these awful diseases in the first place.
No more amputated limbs from type 2 diabetes. No more loved ones taken too soon by a preventable heart attack. No one’s mind lost slowly to the void of vascular dementia.
While some people may have genes that so predispose them that nutrition won’t work, most cases of heart disease and type 2 diabetes can be prevented or possibly even reversed.
Hope for the future
Yet I also saw glimmers of hope. In the ICU waiting room hung a poster for the Dean Ornish Program, being held right there at that hospital in Kentucky. The low-fat vegetarian diet that Dr. Ornish prescribes, unlike any pill or procedure, can actively reverse heart disease.
My mom and I found healthy plant-based options at unlikely chain restaurants, like Logan’s Road House and Cracker Barrel. And at the Kroger in Morehead, deep in the Appalachian mountains of Eastern Kentucky, we found McDougall soup cups, which were a lifeline for us while we were there. One night my mom and aunt even made a vegan chili that everyone in my meat-eating family loved!
So while many Americans still have dangerous habits when it comes to food, I think we might be turning a corner. In tiny baby steps, plant-based nutrition is finding a toe-hold. As a result, I’ve never been more excited to be on the path to being a dietitian. Because I firmly believe that food is the best medicine, and when people eat better, they get better.
Protein-packed pasta salad
After the emotional exhaustion of a week at the hospital, I was craving healthy comfort food. Inspired by last week’s post, 10 Oil-Free Vegan Potluck Recipes Omnivores Will Love, I came up with a delicious bean-and-pasta salad that’s filling, delicious, and tastes surprisingly like a slice of pizza. (Only healthy.)
Packed with 8 grams of protein per cup and just as much fiber, you can easily make a meal out of it, which makes it perfect for a potluck where you may not have other healthy options. It’s loaded with flavor from sun-dried tomatoes and sweet-crisp peppers, so everyone will love it.
Best of all, you can whip it up in 30 minutes.
Just goes to show that plant-based cooking doesn’t just fight disease—it’s easy and delicious!
And I don’t know about you, but for me, cooking is therapeutic too. So after a traumatic week, making this pasta salad was healthy in every possible way!
- 16 oz gluten-free pasta (2 8-oz boxes)
- 1 15-oz can chickpeas or cannellini beans, rinsed and drained
- 1 15-oz can kidney beans, rinsed and drained
- 1 large green bell pepper (or 2 small), seeded and diced
- 1 c julienned sun-dried tomatoes, lightly packed (see note)
- ½ c pitted black olives, sliced
- ⅔ c fat-free or lite Italian dressing (DIY version here)
- 2 tsp dried oregano leaves
- ¼ c toasted pine nuts (omit to keep McDougall-friendly)
- Cook pasta according to directions on package.
- While pasta is cooking, toss remaining ingredients in a large bowl, reserving 1 Tbsp of pine nuts.
- When pasta is cooked, rinse with cold water and immediately add to salad. Toss gently to coat.
- Top with remaining 1 Tbsp pine nuts.
Shared on Lou Lou Girls Fabulous Party, Healthy Happy Green & Natural, Allergy Free Wednesdays, Healthy Living Link Party, Plant-Based Potluck Party, Healthy Vegan Fridays, Gluten Free Fridays, and Real Food Fridays.
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I'm Lee, an RD thriving on a healthy plant based diet.
So sorry to hear bout your Papaw (that what we called my granddad too!). Hope he’s doing better!
This pasta looks fantastic. Every time I have to go to a hospital I’m amazed and the bad food choices. They have a McDonalds at one in ATL!!! Crazy.
Thanks for the kind wishes, Laura. And I agree–it’s just beyond belief that they serve the kind of food in the hospital that puts people in the hospital. I mean, McDonald’s? Come on!
Oh no!! Prayers for all!!
The salad looks like a keeper recipe.
Thank you for sharing!!
Thanks Tango! It’s still touch-and-go with my Papaw, but I really appreciate your thoughts and prayers.
This recipe is amazing…I really was surprised by the pizza taste and the filling factor. Low calories. high protein and fiber…a WINNER for those of us who struggle with weight problems! Truly a keeper recipe
Mama Veggie-Quest
Thanks Mom! I think it’s going to be my potluck dish for the summer, so if I get stuck with nothing else to eat at a party, I can just make a meal out of it. And the pizza flavor’s uncanny, isn’t it? I think it’s the sun-dried tomatoes and oregano.
Hi Lee,
So sorry to hear about your Papaw illness. I truly hope he continues to improve & my prayers are with you. It is awful what foods people are eating every day without even realizing it is pure junk and toxic to the body. I love your recipe – what a great summertime recipe. Thanks for sharing on Real Food Fridays. Pinned & tweeted!
Thanks Marla! My Papaw’s situation is still touch and go, so I appreciate your prayers.
As for standard American food–I get in my (mostly 😉 ) healthy-eating bubble and forget that some people eat greasy fast-food burgers on white-bread buns every single day. It makes me heartsick to know what empty, processed foods like that are doing to their bodies, but hopefully things are beginning to change!
I’m so sorry to hear about your rollercoaster of a week, but I’m really glad your Papaw is hanging in there! Let’s hope he’ll be around for a while longer 🙂
I can totally relate to the part where you felt like screaming “But it doesn’t have to be this way!” – I see it with some of my family members, they suffer from conditions which could be reversed with a healthy plant-based diet. It’s heartbreaking…they don’t take veganism seriously :\
And you’ve intrigued me with this pizza pasta salad – I’m up for anything that tastes like pizza (and this looks like total comfort food too – my favourite type of food) <3
Hi Kyra, I’m in the same situation–family members with serious health conditions that could be fixed (or much improved) with a whole-food, plant-based diet. It’s so frustrating when they then turn around and make fun of vegan food. But all you can do is stay positive and plant the seed in people’s minds, you know? That’s what I tell myself, anyway. 🙂
And I hope you like the pasta salad–I’m a comfort food addict, too!
I would love to serve this dish for my next Meet up. My friends would love it! I am so delighted to see your healthy and delicious Healthy Pizza Pasta Salad recipe at the Healthy Happy Green Natural Party! I’m Pinning and sharing this!
Thanks Deborah!
I’m so sorry to hear about your grandpa Lee. It’s hard to eat healthy under stress like this and when you aren’t in the comfort & convenience of your own kitchen.
This pasta salad sounds good! Filled with lots of healthy, filling things.
Thanks Kimmy–your recent trip sounds like a LOT more fun than mine!
Luckily my grandpa is still with us, although he’s not out of the woods by a long shot. Fingers crossed.
I’m keeping him in my thoughts and sending healthy thoughts.
ps. Thanks for sharing this at Healthy Vegan Fridays – this recipe is being featured this week. I’m pinning & sharing!
Thanks Kimmy, I truly appreciate your kind thoughts. Things aren’t going so well with Papaw at the moment, but things seem to change by the day, so it’s hard to know.
On a brighter note, I’m delighted and honored that you’re featuring my pizza pasta salad on Healthy Vegan Fridays! I’ll be sure to tweet and post to FB when it’s live.
I hope your Papaw continues to improve!
Your pasta salad sounds like just the thing for the warmer days ahead. Thanks for sharing at the Healthy Living Link Party.
Blessings, Leigh
Thanks for your kinds wishes, Leigh. It’s a tough time for the family right now, and I really appreciate your support!
Yummy! I would eat this without the pasta. Thanks for Sharing.
Thanks Anne, great suggestion! I’ll have to try it as a green salad, too. 🙂
Yum! We love a good Pasta Salad around here and this one sounds like it is packed with good flavor 🙂 Thanks so much for sharing with us at the Healthy Living Link Party! We hope to see you back tonight 🙂
You bet, the Healthy Living Link Party is a favorite of mine! 🙂
So yummy! This is my kind of healthy comfort food! What a delightful blend of flavors and textures.Thank you for sharing your healthy and delectable Healthy Pizza Pasta Salad with us on the Plant-Based Potluck Party Link Up. I’m pinning and sharing.
You bet, thanks Deborah!
this looks so yummy! I have had trouble with my gluten free pasta being to crunchy when cold for a salad type dish. Any recommendations ? Also where can I find sun dried tomatoes like these? I may just use cherry tomatoes but I imagine the sun dried adds the extra pizza taste 🙂
Hi Marie, I’ve had the same problem with pasta. I’ve had good luck with Ancient Harvest brand gluten-free pasta, which is a corn/quinoa blend. (Shown in the pictures.) I’ve looked around online, and people seem to like Bionaturae Organic Gluten Free Pasta in cold pasta salads, too. I actually get my sun-dried tomatoes at Whole Foods and can’t remember the exact brand, but these Bella Sun Luci ones look like they’d be similar. Just make sure whatever brand you get is soft and moist. (You can feel through the bag if they’re soft or not.) Hope that helps! 🙂
Best pasta salad I have made, big hit with family. I will definitely be making this again! Thank you.