Quinoa pasta

I still get e-mail newsletters from Heather Bauer, the anti-carb nutritionist I have told you about. And a few months ago, she sent out such a newsletter about pasta substitutes. Since I love pasta but trust Heather and her Nu-Train team, I actually decided to read her suggestions and test them out. It turned out that I'd already tried two of the three recommended pasta alternatives: shiritaki noodles (very low calories "noodles" made from the konnyaku root, which is part of the yam family - they aren't half bad) and spaghetti squash, which I like but isn't fooling anyone into thinking it's anything but squash. But I hadn't yet tried quinoa pasta.

Quinoa, pronounced kee-nwah, is a tiny grain no bigger than a mustard seed. According to my cursory internet research, unlike wheat or rice, quinoa has a very high protein content and is gluten-free. (I know nothing about why some people who aren't allergic to gluten are trying to avoid gluten, so please enlighten me if you know.) And apparently, it can be turned into flour. Which when mixed with corn flour, can be shaped into noodles.

In honor of my new year's-inspired health kick, I bought an 8-ounce package of Ancient Harvest Quinoa "Spaghetti Style" Supergrain Pasta in the organic section of Fairway (it comes in a green box). I figured I'd make a healthy, high protein, gluten-free vegetarian dinner for me and Judd and have the pasta with some veggie meatballs (I recommend mushroom-based Nate's Meatless Meatballs). I also made broccoli with sauteed garlic. One day I will tire of broccoli, but that day has not yet arrived.

I cooked the "spaghetti style" quinoa noodles just like traditional spaghetti - 10 minutes in a large pot of salty boiling water. I thought they were still pretty al dente after 10 minutes, but I like al dente. I tossed the cooked noodles with about 2 cups of marinara sauce (I had an elf-like industriousness on Christmas morning and made several quarts of marinara sauce and a pint of pesto before Judd woke up), some fresh lightly-salted mozzarella cheese, and a handful of grated pecorino romano cheese.

The verdict: not bad! Not bad at all. Actually, it was quite good! If it hadn't been so al dente, I might not have suspected it wasn't regular old spaghetti. And my very filling 4 ounce serving (which was actually 2 servings according to the box) only had 410 calories. Well, it only had 410 calories before I added a lot of cheese - I guess I can skip the mozzarella cheese next time. And there will be a next time because quinoa pasta is tasty.