Healthy Seafood Pasta Recipes

Cooking mussels in a slow cooker? You bet! It's the right tool for building the rich and spicy broth in which these shellfish cook to perfection. Use the freshest mussels you can find, and have the fishmonger clean them for you.

Don't be afraid to put octopus in the slow cooker! Expand your palate and enjoy this tender, light meat that tastes similar to chicken. This red wine sauce is very rich, briny and deeply flavored, so much so that you only need to serve half of it with the octopus.

In the U.S., dry whole-wheat couscous has been partially cooked, making it a quick-cooking (5 minutes!) whole-grain weeknight dinner champ. And when you buy peeled shrimp, plus a bag of prechopped kale and bottled barbecue sauce, the savings in prep time helps to get this healthy dinner done in a jiff.

In this healthy BBQ shrimp recipe, shrimp are seasoned with a peppery spice blend and served with zucchini, peppers and whole-grain orzo for a delicious and easy dinner that's ready in just 30 minutes. The shrimp and veggies are cooked in the same skillet, so cleanup is a snap too.

Zucchini noodles and shelf-stable stir-fry noodles combine for a hearty portion in this healthy stir-fry recipe. Chinese fermented black beans (they're actually soybeans) lend a salty and savory backbone to this quick veggie-filled entree. They're pungent, so a little goes a long way. Find them at Asian grocery stores, well-stocked supermarkets and online.

Crispy, seared scallops combine with whole-grain pasta and greens to make this flavorful complete meal.

This Italian-inspired dish is full of flavor. Use whole grain or multigrain fettuccine to make it a healthier option.

Go fishing at your grocery store and you won't find a meal that is much easier, or healthier, than this one. Salmon is one of a few foods that contain omega-3 fatty acids, which can help prevent disease.

Basil, considered to be a royal herb in ancient Greece, provides color and flavor in this quick, diabetic-friendly seafood and pasta recipe.

Have this fresh shrimp and pasta meal on the table in 30 minutes.

"Healthify" classic fettuccine Alfredo by adding protein-rich shrimp and using whole-wheat noodles instead of white for extra fiber. We love the full flavor of Asiago cheese in this quick and comforting dinner, but any hard Italian cheese, like Parmigiano Reggiano or Romano, will work well too.

Use the one-pot pasta cooking method to make this tuna pasta recipe that calls for just 5 ingredients and is ready in just over half an hour. For extra crunch and a tuna noodle casserole feel, sprinkle this speedy pasta dish with toasted whole-wheat panko breadcrumbs.

Sun-dried tomato pesto and lemon do double duty to season both the salmon and the couscous in this healthy one-pan dinner recipe. Serve the salmon with extra lemon wedges and a dollop of plain yogurt, if desired.

A low-fat white sauce, made with fat-free milk, coats the salmon, pasta, and broccoli in this complete 30-minute meal.

This light and veggie-packed shrimp and pasta dish makes a special weeknight dinner.

Make your sauce and pasta all at once with this fast weeknight pasta dinner recipe. By using the exact amount of water you need to cook the pasta--no colanders here--the starch that cooks off into your pasta water, which you usually drain away, stays in the pot, giving you delectably creamy results.

Noodle dishes like this one are often served as part of a Chinese New Year's celebration to symbolize a long, healthy life. In this easy recipe, butternut squash adds another layer of meaning with a golden color evocative of a prosperous year to come.

This healthy pad thai recipe has less than half the calories and sodium of the traditional Thai-restaurant favorite. Look for dried wide rice noodles, sometimes called “Pad Thai noodles” or “straight-cut,” in the Asian-food section at most supermarkets and natural-foods stores. Serve with sliced cucumbers with a rice vinegar and cilantro vinaigrette.

A touch of chile-garlic sauce and hot sesame oil add heat to this delicately flavored salmon soup without being overpowering.

If you have large sea scallops, cut them in half horizontally before adding to the soup.