The Miracle of Turning Veggies into Pasta

Veggie Pasta Made Wit My New Spiral Slicer (photo by LivligaHome)

We just eat too many carbohydrates. I have been re-reading parts of the State of Slim book by Dr. Jim Hill and Holly Wyatt and it has reminded me that just about everything we eat, including fruits and vegetables have carbohydrates. The reality is that there are "good" carbs and "bad" carbs. Not all carbs are made a like. Bad carbs are those we eat from highly processed and highly refined foods. These are the ones we crave, can't get enough of and never feel satisfied from. These are the cookies, candies, donuts and cakes we often find ourselves eating everyday. It is our addiction. It also includes pasta.

I realized I needed to actively work on limiting the bad carbs in my diet. Instead of craving something that truly never satisfies me, and easily adds pounds to my body, I thought I would start looking around for alternatives. It is amazing how many there are that are attractive, tasty and filling...all the ingredients needed to ultimately feel satisfied at the end of a meal.

The first experiment was with pasta. A dear friend of mine introduced me to a way to make pasta from vegetables. He has diabetes and needed to find ways to eliminate the carbs in his diet which has led him to discover some wonderful ways to cook fresh, whole foods. Vegetable pasta is actually really cool to make. You need a spiral slicer. The one he recommended is a Paderno Spiral Vegetable Slicer which you can get on Amazon.

Paderno Spiral Vegetable Slicer Needed to Make The Vegetable Pasta (photo by LivligaHome)

Our first experiment was to spiral slice carrots and zucchini. The recipe I used was from the State of Slim book. It called for carrots, zucchini and asparagus. The carrots and zucchini both worked well in the spiral slicer. The asparagus had to be sliced with a vegetable peeler. It looked beautiful.

The vegetable pasta cooked in a flash( you blanch for 3 minutes max.) and stayed bright and colorful, as you can see in the photo above. Not only is it very colorful but it also tastes sweet. For those who don't like zucchini much, like my daughter, this is a great way to rediscover this vegetable.

To complete the pasta dish you mix the blanched veggie with ½ cup low fat store bought marinara sauce and then top with 4 ounces of cooked boneless & skinless chicken breast. Super easy and very delicious. It also seems like a lot to eat. A good meal when you know you are going to be really hungry, since it fills you up well. A definite repeat. We are also looking forward to experimenting with other vegetables, especially the root vegetables like rutabaga, parsnip and turnip. Any others we should try? We are willing guinea pigs!

Enjoy! And Live Vibrant!