It's easy to see why our enjoyment of pasta continues - it's convenient, easy-to-prepare, and offers countless possibilities for delicious, healthy meals.

Pasta is very versatile served either as a main course or side dish. Combining pasta with other healthy ingredients provides nutrients that are essential for good health, such as vitamins, minerals, carbohydrates, proteins and fats. Healthy pasta "partners" include vegetables, fish, seafood, poultry, lean meat, beans, tomato sauce and olive oil. A pasta meal is also a tasty way to get specific nutrients the typical American diet may be lacking - calcium, potassium, fiber, magnesium, and vitamins A, C and E. When you combine pasta with fish such as salmon, you'll even get a healthy dose of omega-three fatty acids, which may help protect against heart disease.

Pasta also fits well with the recommendation to get the most nutrition out of the calories you eat.

The 2005 Dietary Guidelines for Americans, a set of recommendations from the U.S. Departments of Agriculture and Health and Human Services, suggest at least half of your daily grain servings come from whole grains. For the remaining half, you may choose enriched grain foods that include pasta, rice and certain breads and cereals. Remember, variety is a key part of any healthy eating plan.

Carbohydrate-rich foods are a critical part of nutrition and an active lifestyle. In fact, they are the preferred source of fuel for your body. Whether you enjoy brisk morning walks or an evening workout at the gym, your muscles need the energy supplied by carbohydrates. What's more, the glucose (sugar) supplied by carbohydrates provides much-needed fuel for your brain.

Pasta is a grain food that is low in fat and very low in sodium. Enriched grain foods like pasta are a good source of thiamin, folic acid, iron, riboflavin and niacin. A 1/2 cup serving of cooked spaghetti contains only about 100 calories.

Consider 1 to 1 1/2 cups cooked pasta an appropriate main dish portion the equivalent of 2-3 servings of grain foods. Restaurants may offer as much as five or six times this amount, often with generous additions of high-fat sauces. Keeping this in mind, fill your plate with a proper portion of your favorite pasta, and include larger helpings of healthy pasta partners such as vegetables. Most importantly, take the time to enjoy your meals and, whenever possible, share them with family and friends.

Try a few of these delicious suggestions for serving up pasta: