Pasta?

Zoe_Rebecca
Zoe_Rebecca Posts: 27 Member
in Recipes
I LOVE pasta but of course it's quite unhealthy when you eat large portions of it, luckily my portions are always fairly small.. does anyone have any pasta recipes that are a bit better for you? Always fancied a go at making it myself :P

Alternatively, does anyone have any healthy sauce recipes to get on pasta? I love making an arrabiata by cooking my chicken first in a tiny bit of oil then using that oil to cook onions and garlic (less oil all together that way) and add chopped tomatoes; after that just put all the herbs and spices you want (I love oregano and chilli flakes) and put the meat back in. Delicious, simple and fairly healthy but it's the only one I know haha

Thanks :) x

Replies

  • PowerfulHunt
    PowerfulHunt Posts: 281 Member
    Lunch idea:

    http://www.organizeyourselfskinny.com/2013/09/14/artichoke-and-tortellini-mason-jar-salad/
  • Zoe_Rebecca
    Zoe_Rebecca Posts: 27 Member
    They look so cool!
  • Acg67
    Acg67 Posts: 12,142 Member
    The easiest of all sauces Aglio e Olio.

    Mandoline some garlic

    heat up some olive oil on lowish heat

    throw in garlic and chili flake to infuse the oil

    toss pasta with infused oil and parsley
  • Hell_Flower
    Hell_Flower Posts: 348 Member
    I like to sautee Mediterranean sort of veggies - courgette, olives, baby plum tomatoes, red onions, bell peppers in a bit of olive oil and garlic and some mixed Italian herbs, with some tinned chopped tomatoes.

    If wanting to switch it up a bit, also add in either some chopped anchovies or chorizo (if I'm feeling flush with my calories for that day, ha).

    An easy one is also a tin of tuna, tin of sweet corn, garlic and low fat creme fraiche, if a little unsophisticated, :glasses:

    Actually, low fat creme fraiche is a great substitute for heavy cream in the creamy sauces. Can make a low fat carbonara with it or sometimes some good quality white crab, handful of prawns, bit of garlic, bit of onion + creme fraiche = oh so happy tongue.
  • heatherv89
    heatherv89 Posts: 20 Member
    This can make some people cringe BUT- there is such a thing as tofu pasta. It is honest to god like... 10 calories per serving. Yes, there is a SLIGHT texture difference but my extremely picky friend couldn't tell much of a difference (after I had to convince him to try it for like 15 minutes). It is awesome and totally my pasta-loving god send!!
  • Zoe_Rebecca
    Zoe_Rebecca Posts: 27 Member
    This can make some people cringe BUT- there is such a thing as tofu pasta. It is honest to god like... 10 calories per serving. Yes, there is a SLIGHT texture difference but my extremely picky friend couldn't tell much of a difference (after I had to convince him to try it for like 15 minutes). It is awesome and totally my pasta-loving god send!!

    That actually sounds cool.. do you buy that?
  • climbing_trees
    climbing_trees Posts: 726 Member
    inspiralized.com!

    tofu pasta is disgusting and not worth the money.
    get yourself a spiralizer for $20 ish and make "noodles" out of all your favorite vegetables!
    zucchini is the easiest and most common, i love butternut squash and cucumber too.
  • Kari121869
    Kari121869 Posts: 180 Member
    yes I hate tofu - but I'm open to trying it as a pasta since I may not really 'taste' it as much... where would one buy that in Canada or the USA?
  • Kari121869
    Kari121869 Posts: 180 Member
    inspiralized.com!

    tofu pasta is disgusting and not worth the money.
    get yourself a spiralizer for $20 ish and make "noodles" out of all your favorite vegetables!
    zucchini is the easiest and most common, i love butternut squash and cucumber too.

    That sounds like a better alternative for me lol.. Is it hard to use? Do you cook the veggies before you 'spiralize' them?
  • snowflake930
    snowflake930 Posts: 2,188 Member
    I love a pasta dish that I margherita pasta, with whole wheat penne pasta.

    It is dressed with fresh tomatoes, garlic, fresh basil, freshly grated parmesan, red pepper flakes and evoo.

    It is delicious, and no need for a sauce.
  • daala2k
    daala2k Posts: 3 Member
    Steamed spiralizer zucchini, so good! I used to eat a ton of pasta, still love it. But the zucchini helps a lot, almost 6 months into it. =)
  • S_Murphree
    S_Murphree Posts: 94
    Barilla makes a white wheat pasta that is awesome. Not lower in calories but higher in fiber. Smart taste make white pasta also. It's higher in protein and fiber.
  • emilyalanford
    emilyalanford Posts: 2
    I am not a huge pasta fan, my husband on the other hand is.. to compromise I use whole wheat pasta. I've been using the pasta recipes off of skinnymom.com and my husband always asks me,"Are you sure this is healthy?" I even found myself eating leftovers the next day because their recipes are so good.
  • Kari121869
    Kari121869 Posts: 180 Member
    Just saw a video on Youtube - buy a julienne veggie cutter - about $15 - use that to slice zucchini, cucumber, etc into 'pasta'.... I'm trying this for sure!!
  • KristenE83
    KristenE83 Posts: 187 Member
    I've been buying organic brown rice pasta (found in the gluten free section). Calorically it's not much different than regular pasta but it definitely fills me up and keeps me satisfied longer than regular pasta. Look for the Tinkyada brand (comes bagged not boxed). It's absolutely way more money than regular pasta but I like it. I also found that the organic version lasts longer in the fridge than the non organic one. The one that isn't organic gets mushy quickly while the organic one maintains its texture. The ingredients are organic brown rice and water.... pretty simple. Pasta is absolutely my weakness so this helps me get my pasta fix without getting seconds/thirds/fourths lol

    GIve it a try!
  • ChrisManch
    ChrisManch Posts: 46 Member
    10 calories of Tofu is only 14g portion, about half an ounce. I doubt you could get a "serving" of pasta out of it no matter what you do with it.

    There is a commercial brand called "Eat Water - Slim Pasta" that is only 14 kCal per 100g, and another called Barenaked Pasta that is only 8 kCal per 100g (cooked weight) but they are expensive and some say they have a slimy texture.

    There is nothing wrong with Pasta in a balanced diet. Its how much you eat and what sauce you put on it that is the problem.

    80g of dry pasta is a reasonable serving, and is 280 calories, you should be able to fit this with a low calorie sauce into a low calorie diet. Tomato based sauces with vegetables, herbs and maybe some lean chicken or tuna for protein is a good balance.

    Its the cheese or oil-based sauces (Pesto for example), fatty meats and huge portions that bump up the calories.

    If you enjoy pasta have it, just have less and be careful of the sauces. You should still enjoy your food when losing weight, it makes it easier to stick with it.

    One interesting thing about pasta is that its GI (glycemic index) goes up the longer you cook it. Fresh homemade pasta cooks in about 3 minutes so has a lower GI than dry pasta that you cook in 8-14 minutes. Same number of calories but slower to digest so not raising your blood sugar level so quickly. Also egg pasta contains more protein, so has a lower GI too.
  • gabylewis22
    gabylewis22 Posts: 41 Member
    Sod healthy versions of pasta. Just eat exactly what you want in a smaller portion. As an Italian I eat pasta probably 5-6 times a week!

    BUT If I do have any advice...using yoghurt in sauces instead of cream is an absolute god send - And light mozzarella - in a pasta sauce it tastes exactly the same!
  • farmers_daughter
    farmers_daughter Posts: 1,632 Member
    inspiralized.com!

    tofu pasta is disgusting and not worth the money.
    get yourself a spiralizer for $20 ish and make "noodles" out of all your favorite vegetables!
    zucchini is the easiest and most common, i love butternut squash and cucumber too.

    THIS THIS AND THIS

    I make spaghetti with my gefu (like the item mentioned above) all the time and I LOVE IT. No not the same as dropping pasta into boiling water, but still, I sautee the zoodles! as we call them.
  • SarcasmIsMyLoveLanguage
    SarcasmIsMyLoveLanguage Posts: 2,668 Member
    Have you tried spaghetti squash as an alternative? It's actually pretty tasty.

    I recently purchased black bean spaghetti from Costco (I'm in Canada too). It's....interesting to say the least but if you put a flavourful sauce on it, it's not bad.

    I agree with zucchini noodles, I've done that in place of lasagna noodles before and it was quite yummy.

    I eat gluten-free and there are a number of good GF pastas out there but they won't save you any calories.
  • Carlywiese
    Carlywiese Posts: 51 Member
    I've heard that costco carries a black bean pasta that is really yummy (my girlfriend and I were just talking about it yesterday) and it's got the extra protein from the beans, I'm definitely going to be trying that one soon :)


    ^^^ hahahaha we posted about the black bean pasta at exactly the same time ;) nice
  • SarcasmIsMyLoveLanguage
    SarcasmIsMyLoveLanguage Posts: 2,668 Member
    I've heard that costco carries a black bean pasta that is really yummy (my girlfriend and I were just talking about it yesterday) and it's got the extra protein from the beans, I'm definitely going to be trying that one soon :)


    ^^^ hahahaha we posted about the black bean pasta at exactly the same time ;) nice

    I've tried it. It's definitely different but if you have a lot of flavour in your sauce, it's passable. Pretty sure I couldn't get my family to eat it though.
  • SarcasmIsMyLoveLanguage
    SarcasmIsMyLoveLanguage Posts: 2,668 Member
    I've heard that costco carries a black bean pasta that is really yummy (my girlfriend and I were just talking about it yesterday) and it's got the extra protein from the beans, I'm definitely going to be trying that one soon :)


    ^^^ hahahaha we posted about the black bean pasta at exactly the same time ;) nice

    haha....and again. Didn't see your post before I posted. :laugh:
  • fspre
    fspre Posts: 8 Member
    This can make some people cringe BUT- there is such a thing as tofu pasta. It is honest to god like... 10 calories per serving. Yes, there is a SLIGHT texture difference but my extremely picky friend couldn't tell much of a difference (after I had to convince him to try it for like 15 minutes). It is awesome and totally my pasta-loving god send!!

    Do you have a recipe??
  • heatherv89
    heatherv89 Posts: 20 Member
    Yeah, I bought it at my local Giant. Found in in the vegan/vegetarian section.
  • bohemian124
    bohemian124 Posts: 152 Member
    I too love pasta! I typically get the whole wheat pasta because it is more filling, so I'll eat less. I like to bulk it up with lots of veggies -greens, fresh or canned tomatoes or sun dried tomatoes. In the summer, I love to do a light lemony sauce with lots of zest and juice, garlic, capers, and just a touch of butter or olive oil. Garbanzo beans works really well with this sauce.

    I also recently starting making one that has become a new favorite. Whole wheat spaghetti or linguini, edamame, and steamed broccoli with soy sauce and a kiss of toasted seasme oil. So yummy!

    Spaghetti squash is also good in season.

    I've also started doing zucchini pasta, but I really want to get one of those spiralizers so it is easier. Right now I use a vegetable peeler and it's not quite the right size or thickness. There are some great recipes for zucchini pasta with peanut sauce, raw alfredo sauce, etc. Yummmm.

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