Quick Pasta Salad Fits For July Fourth

The Fourth of July weekend is traditionally a time of food, family and fun.

It still will be for locked-out Steelworkers at Kaiser Aluminum’s Trentwood plant, although their circumstances have changed. While family time counts, they also will honor their four-hour shifts on the picket line.

Daniel Shafer, who’s retired from the Navy, says he will have friends over for a picnic but will serve hot dogs instead of steaks. He now regularly shops at the commissary at Fairchild Air Force Base, where food prices are discounted for military personnel.

Shafer, who worked eight hours a day “flipping 50-80 pounds of metal,” found that stopping the physically demanding work had one detrimental effect on his health.

“We started putting on weight,” says Shafer, who got used to eating large lunches at work. He gained about 30 pounds early on, but has been losing weight after switching to a more basic diet.

“You’re not as active anymore,” agrees Jeff Davis, who also gained weight but has since lost it and brought his cholesterol level down as well.

Davis, a trucker and overhead crane operator with 25 years’ experience at Kaiser, will celebrate the holiday at his parents’ Liberty Lake home following his line duty from 2-6 a.m.

Richard Moore, who had worked 30 years, eight months as a machine operator when the strike started, has cut back on eating fast foods to save money.

“Financially, I’m OK,” says the Post Falls resident. “If I had a wife and family it would be a different story.”

His holiday plans include hauling wood and mowing his lawn before coming for picket line duty from 6-10 p.m.

Here’s a versatile pasta salad recipe that’s definitely All-American, with your free choice of vegetables and dressing.

Happy Fourth of July weekend to everyone.

Quick Pasta Salad

From “The McDougall Program: Twelve Days to Dynamic Health” by Dr. John A. McDougall (Plume, 1990).

2 cups uncooked whole-wheat or spinach elbow macaroni, shells or spirals

3 cups chopped vegetables (green or red peppers, broccoli, celery, carrots, green onions, alone or in any combination you want)

1/2-1 cup fat-free salad dressing

Cook the pasta in boiling water just until tender, 8 to 10 minutes. Drain, mix with the vegetables, add dressing and toss to coat.

Yield: 4 servings.

Nutrition information per serving: 200 calories, 1 gram fat (4.5 percent fat calories), 42 grams carbohydrate, 6 grams protein, no cholesterol, 4 grams dietary fiber, 638 millligrams sodium.