Shamrock Salad

I cannot believe it has taken me this long to post on a dessert!!! It takes me 30 minutes to think of a dinner recipe but ask me what dessert to take to a cook out and I'll tell you 6 and have the recipe memorized.

This is a lighter dessert and is already on the "thumbs up" end of the dessert scale.  The way my family & in-laws have made it aren't bad but we can improve things slightly and it work out better! (Bigger serving anyone?!)

Some people call this pistachio salad, some shamrock salad and I'm sure your family has a name for it but it looks like this:

Shamrock Salad

It involves several of my favorites: marshmallows, chopped almonds, pineapple, cool whip and pistachio pudding. 

The kind my Grandma used to make has approximately 425-450 calories, 10g fat, 50g carbs, 5g fiber, 20g of sugar and 5g protein for 3/4 of a cup serving. That is with the full fat everything option & walnuts which have a high fat content (granted it is a good source of essential omega fatty acids).

This lower calorie version tastes the same but will save you 200-250 calories per 1 cup serving.

• 1 8oz tub of sugar free cool whip
• 3/4 c crushed pineapples (preferably from the produce section but if you get it in the can make sure it isn't in syrup!)
• 1/2 a packet of sugar-free fat-free pistachio pudding mix
• 2c mini marshmallows
• 1/4c chopped almonds

My calorie count is a range because I love pineapple so I added about a cup of pineapple.  I didn't have any prechopped almonds so I chopped my very first almond and it wasn't hard and it made use of the big bags I buy.  (The options are endless after I discovered how to make almond butter!).  

Have you ever had fresh pineapple? O.M.G.  it is so much better than the canned stuff.  I still eat the canned stuff but when budget allows I get some from the produce.  This is seriously one of the easiest desserts to make that you can eat a big bowl of without feeling that regret.  And kids love it, too! The spoonful above is how I got my 6 year old out of bed this morning since he didn't get to try any last night =)

Now for the nutritional breakdown: 150-175 calories, 5g fat, 33g carbs, 3g fiber, 15g sugar and 2g protein.
Most of the protein in the fattier version came from the almonds- which is also where all those fat & calories came from!