Quick Easy Vegetarian, Vegan Pasta Recipes
Hot Pasta! Noodles! Lasagna! Pasta Soups! Pasta Salads!
Pasta is made from a grain, and acts like a grain in many ways, but it has it's own unique character. All pasta and noodles are formed from flour and water, dried (or not), cooked in water, then drained and subjected to various improvements, as a grain would be.
If whole grains are good, then logically, whole grain pasta must also be A Good Thing. But some of us prefer traditional pasta. Eat whatever pasta or noodle that suits you, and enjoy!
To be complete, pasta needs other additions, which may be high in calories. Pasta isn't really the problem, it's the other things you eat with it, and how much you eat of them. Is pasta really fattening?
Savvy Vegetarian Pasta Recipes
Is Pasta Really Fattening?
Grains like rice can be happily eaten all by themselves, but pasta cries out for herbs, olive oil, sauces, veggies, tofu, cheeses, and other additions to be complete. That's why pasta has a fattening reputation!
It's not the pasta itself that's fattening, it's what you eat with it, and how much you eat of it. For instance, a large (1 cup) serving of pasta is about 220 calories. Seriously! But that's before the oil, cheese, sauce etc.
But pasta is boring by itself. It needs adorning before we can properly adore it. So what to do? How do we enjoy pasta without gaining weight?
It's sad but true that diabetics and dieters generally should avoid pasta because it's made from flour, and according to Dr. Gabe Mirkin's modified DASH diet, flour is off the list.
For those who can indulge, here are a few tips to avoid excess calories when eating pasta:
Eat smaller servings of pasta, and stretch it out with beans or lentils, which are low cal, low fat, high protein.
Instead of eating it with high calorie sauces, enjoy pasta in soups, salads, or casserole dishes such as Pasta with Creamy Pumpkin Sauce & Toasted Walnuts, Pasta and Bean Soup, Eclectic Pasta Stew
Reduce or eliminate the oil in pasta dishes. E.G. make Tofu, Pasta & Veggies with baked tofu instead of fried tofu, and go easy on the pasta sauce, or make Spaghetti With Lemon And Olives with just a touch of olive oil
Favor low cal pasta flavorings like fresh or dried herbs, lemon or lime juice, salt & pepper, and steamed veggies over bottled sauce and cheese.
One neat trick is to cook firm veggies with the pasta - e.g. carrots, celery, green beans, broccoli, brussels sprouts or cauliflower. Doing that avoids fat, flavors the pasta, and saves using another pot. You can also throw in cubed tofu, seitan or tempeh with the veggies.
When using frozen veg, add them to the pasta cooking water one or two minutes before the pasta is cooked.
When using frozen veg, add them to the pasta cooking water one or two minutes before the pasta is cooked.
If you don't want to throw out veggie nutrients with the cooking water, steam them first, then add to the pasta. It does use another pot, but you decide if the tradeoff is worth it.
Personally, I think there's not that much difference in loss of nutrients between steaming and boiling veggies and I love the efficiency of cooking everything in one pot.
