Pasta Salad Niçoise

Description
The following recipe meets the "5 A Day for Better Health" program criteria. This means that this recipe does not exceed the following: 30% of calories from fat; 10% of calories from saturated fat; 100 mg cholesterol and 360 mg sodium per serving.

This makes a nice lunch menu with fresh fruit and a whole wheat roll. This is also a good salad recipe for a picnic lunch.

Ingredients

 * ¼ cup fat-free Italian dressing
 * ¼ cup chopped fresh basil
 * 2 cloves minced fresh garlic
 * 5 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
 * 2 cups cooked and drained rotini pasta
 * 1 can (6 oz) drained water-packed tuna
 * ¾ cup diced fresh tomato
 * ½ diced California avocado
 * ¼ cup sliced red onion
 * 4 leaves green-leaf lettuce
 * 2 large sliced black olives

Directions

 * 1) In a small bowl, combine the dressing, basil, garlic and red pepper flakes.
 * 2) Set aside.
 * 3) In a large bowl, combine rotini pasta, tuna, tomato, avocado and red onion.
 * 4) Add dressing and toss.
 * 5) Line four plates with lettuce leaves, spoon on salad and garnish with olive slices.