Recently I had an appointment with my Nutritionist, who is responsible for millions of people getting healthy.  Kathie Swift, MS, RD, LDN is the practitioner who introduced Mark Hyman, M.D. to both functional medicine and food as an avenue to health.  She was the person who taught half of my week long workshop in 2008 when I began my wellness odyssey and I am eternally grateful to her for her wisdom and guidance. She is the person I turn to when I get stuck in my weight loss journey, and she is brilliant and up to date on all things regarding food and medicine.  We were recently talking about the “holes” in eating gluten free (things we miss) and I mentioned that my husband and I occasionally ate Einkhorn pasta (a wheat pasta using the original wheat from Italy that hasn’t been hybridized and modified the way our wheat has, thereby making it much less reactive).  She suggested we try some of the low carb pastas made from alternative beans (black bean and mung bean).

I’ll be honest, much of these foods usually fall a bit short, but this one is AMAZING!  If you love pasta, but want to eat healthier, eat less carbs, lose weight or any of the above, you must try this pasta!  It is made by Explore Asian, and is Organic Mung Bean Fettucine.  Tastes fabulous, cooks in 8 minutes, and actually has a great flavor!
Today for lunch we cooked some chicken breast tenders on the grill (marinated in fresh garlic, salt, pepper and olive oil for about 2 hrs), then grill until cooked.  Set aside.

Cook mung bean fettuccine per package.  Rinse in strainer.  Put 2 tbs. olive oil in the pan, I added red pepper, fresh garlic, onion, sauteed, and put the pasta back in, toss and sprinkle a bit of parmesan on (optional).  Add the chicken, and we had a fabulous lunch, leave off the chicken and you STILL have a high protein vegetarian entrée!

Compare the nutritional content of this pasta to “regular old wheat fettucine”.

Unbelievable, right?  Just look at the carb content.  This mung bean pasta will not only taste good, but it will provide fiber, protein and it won’t cause your insulin to shoot sky high because you just injested 42 grams of carbs!  (And if you had a double portion, that’s 84 grams of carbs!)

So, the next time you want pasta, re-think it.  And yes, this is more expensive, but how do you put a price on staying healthy?  What’s your insurance deductible?  What is the cost of having to start taking diabetes meds, insulin, or having the inflammation wheat causes?  (read about WHEAT here).

I’d really like to know if any of you try this pasta, and what you think, so please report back! (Of the 69 reviews on Amazon, 56 gave it 5 stars!)

I also purchased their black bean spaghetti, I’ll be letting you know about that one soon.

Links:

Explore Asian on Amazon (note the price is for 6 packages!)

More about Kathie Swift and SwiftNutrition

Other recipe ideas:

olive oil, clams, oregano, mushrooms and garlic for Linguine with clam sauce

or:

Two weeks ago, I made my husband dinner and used a carton of POMA chopped tomato, fresh garlic, pesto (2 TBS) and cooked up and drained some Italian sausage, and a few peppers.  Tossed the entire thing, Parmesan on top, and it was fabulous. (At least he said it was, I got home from a meeting to have some and it was GONE!)