Our Health Journey

Recently a new friend introduced me to a type of pasta I’d never tried before - Organic 100% Whole Soybean Pasta (from Nutrition Kitchen). I’ve only been a Vegetarian for about a year now, so I’m still learning about new foods and healthy protein alternatives. I’ll be making sure my pantry is stocked with this one from now on!

It’s wheat-free and gluten-free pasta that is not only substantially higher in protein and fiber than both traditional and whole-wheat pasta, it’s also a great source of iron, something that many women are lacking in their diet. I’m always willing to try new things, so even though I don’t like Tofu or some other soy-based products, I decided to replace my usual pasta and give the soybean pasta a try last night for dinner.

After cooking it according to the instructions on the box, I tasted some plain - both as a test to see if it was cooked to my liking, and also to see what it tasted like sans sauce or seasoning. To be honest it was rather bland at first bite. But it has a slightly sweet, nutty flavor that grows on you, although it’s very subtle, which is of course what you’d want, especially if you’ve put time into making your own special pasta sauce. You don’t want a pasta that will overwhelm the flavor of what you’re serving on top.

But what I liked best about this Soybean Pasta is the texture. Even though I was using an Angel Hair variety, it held up very well to my very chunky Vegetarian Pasta Sauce, with a grooved surface that helps a sauce to cling without sticking to itself. In case you’re wondering, no I couldn’t actually see the grooves - it was angel hair pasta after all - but the box says that it has a grooved surface. It certainly worked. And it definitely has a much better “chewing feel” than most other gluten-free pasta that uses a combination of grains (including soybeans) - the 100% whole soybean pasta has a texture much more like traditional pasta.

Here’s a quick comparison for you:

I’m off now to go polish off my leftovers!

This entry was posted on Saturday, August 18th, 2007 at 10:50 pm and is filed under The Daily Diet. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.