Around the holidays, the merry-go-round many of us are riding only seems to go faster. This is one of those pasta salads you can make when you have a moment, and then keeps in the refrigerator for a quick meal, or a simple side dish to bring to a get-together. It keeps for several days, so make a batch and you are good to go.

We've lightened this baby up by doing a few things:

We are using a whole-wheat blend pasta (to bump up the fiber and nutrients) and we are using 1/4 cup real mayo and 3/4 cup fat-free sour cream instead of 1 cup real mayo. If you want to bring down the fat even further, use 1/4 cup light mayo instead of the real mayo. I find many people are positively militant about their real mayonnaise, so that's why I usually use it in recipes and then blend it with a great-tasting fat-free sour cream.

We are quadrupling the chopped fresh basil just because it's festive and colorful and brimming with flavor. And why not double the chopped tomatoes for the same reasons? To make this pasta salad a bit more filling — so it can stand alone as a quick meal — I added cubes of part-skim mozzarella cheese (or reduced-fat sharp cheddar) and some less-fat salami (just 16 slices).

The original recipe contains 351 calories, 23 grams of fat, 3.5 grams of saturated fat and 16 milligrams of cholesterol per serving (and that's before adding the cheese or salami).

IN-A-PINCH PASTA SALAD