pasta salad calories?

icimani

I eat at a cafe on our campus just about every day for lunch. The cooks there are mostly Italian, and they make really good pasta salad. I would think they'd be a fairly healthy choice since they're mostly vinigarette or italian dressing as opposed to mayo, but how the heck would I estimate calories in a cup of the pasta salad? I can guess most of the main ingredients, but I'd have no idea about the dressing, spices, and I'm assuming garlic powder (and lots of it!).

FredDoyle

Vinegar, oregano and garlic powder can safely be ignored. I'm going to guess there is oil though. Ask the chef how much. I'm guessing at least a tablespoon...
Then pasta by weight and you can probably ignore the peppers, onions or what have you.
There might be a load of sodium though if you are tracking it.

Chief_Rocka

Log it as the Kraft store-bought pasta salad. Can't be too much different.

WendyTerry420

Log it as the Kraft store-bought pasta salad. Can't be too much different.

This is what I do for a lot of cafeteria foods. I just log them as a chain restaurant or something similar.

mamaward64

I would do a basic deli pasta salad or a rotini with italian dressing and parmesan.

lewcompton

Always go with the higher calorie equivalent... Rather eat too few than too many calories...

icimani

Makes sense - thanks!

I'll explore the database for something close.