Noodle Alternatives
 

This year I was on a diet and have been exploring alternatives to traditional pasta noodles. So far I have three favorites: Palmini hearts of palm noodles (comes in four varieties I thing, though I usually go for angel hair; the lasagna noodles are good too and that was the first time I ever experienced them), Gefen hearts of palm noodles (cheaper than Palmini but nearly as good, I get the spaghetti variety), and today I just tried Konjac noodles for the first time. The brand is "Hethstia" and they taste like those chewy Asian noodles you get at a restaurant, and an entire package (two servings) is 12 calories!

Unfortunately all of these are more expensive than traditional noodles, but I don't eat them so often that it is a problem (yet). I am curious if anyone else has their own favorites or recommendations. I definitely want to try more of the Konjac noodle brands.

-J.

Have you tried making veggie spirals yourself?

I have not, but I have tried zucchini spiral noodles both purchased from the supermarket (made fresh) or made by a family member. I enjoyed them both times. I know tools exist to do this but I don't think I like zucchini enough to get one.

-J.

I don't know why you couldn't do it with hearts of palm at home. I haven't tried it, but don't see why not.

Are you guys using these like you would regular pasta? Like in tomato or Alfredo type things? I don't like zucchini or other noodles I have tried . It is the texture that is most of the turn off for me. I can't stand spaghetti squash. I love pasta but has anyone found a noodle that really passes for pasta?
A hand held spiralizer is very cheap and works for any hard veggie.

I have used the hearts of palm pasta in the same ways as normal pasta; in fact my mom made lasagna with it once which is what introduced me to the concept. When prepared correctly (cleaned well and boiled for around 10 minutes) I find it is pretty good. The konjac noodles are very similar to the glutinous Chinese noodles and I'm excited to experiment with those.

-J.

I have a spiralizer and have worked it on sweet potato, zucchini and winter squash. It’s not pasta but it’s good. I tried using beets but they don’t go with red sauce and I couldn’t figure out what did go on them other than butter.

Who cleans pasta?? And how?

You just need to rinse it since it comes from a bag/can (the palm and konjac ones, at least).

-J.

I tried the stuff that comes in the bag. I thought it was slimy and tasteless. That’s too big a price to pay for virtually zero calories.

The slimy part is exactly what I am afraid of.

Like licking a frog. Without the hallucinations.

ROFL!

But with hallucinogenic effects, GW McLintock wouldn't know/care that its a pasta/noodle alternative.

David

Its been many decades, but I don’t remember hallucinations ever coming with an appetite. I think that probably saved my life as who knows what I might have tried to eat.

This is where I've landed on the subject too, it's not pasta, and doesn't sub for it. You can't really cook it al dente as you would with pasta. You can make perfectly fine meals with these things, but they're still vegetable dishes not pasta. Kind of like I always say if you think a turkey burger is a sub for a beef burger you'll be disappointed. It needs to be treated like turkey. I find that Asian sauces work better with veggie "noodles" than Italian.

I’m a fan of Seapoint Farms Edamame Fettuccine. I already eat plenty of wheat and there are times when I’d like to have something else in my diet. I’ll top those noodles with a hearty red pasta sauce loaded with veggies I’ve added. No, it’s not exactly like wheat pasta but I like its flavor and the other gummy alternatives I’ve tried don’t appeal.

My go to for adapting ragu and bolognese type pasta dishes has also been palm hearts. I haven’t seen noodle products made with them (and when I have, I dismissed them as too expensive) but canned and jarred palm hearts are available relatively economically in the U.K. and, particularly, in Spain, so I just drain and rinse them and slice them myself as a rustic style tagliatelle substitute.

I wanted to bring more vegan/plant foods into my high-fat low-carb diet this year so I made an order for Lupin flour - have been eating Lupin beans/seeds (altramuces - a classic Spanish bar snack, I find them in London at Portuguese shops) for years just hadn’t had them ground before - and a few other alternative flours and “bonders”. As soon as they arrive I’m going to try this low-carb pasta recipe


I like the idea of combining wheat gluten and konjac powder with flours.

They're not slimy after they're rinsed well but I felt like I was eating rubber bands. Couldn't develop a taste for them, no matter how I tried preparing them.